US1232640A - Feeding and burning fine fuel. - Google Patents

Description

W DI WOOD. FEEDING AND BURNING FINE FUEL.

APPL |CATION mid on. 21. m5.

Patented July 10 ma ma,

W. D. WOOD.

FEEDING AND BURNING FINE FUEL.

- APPLICATION mzn oc 2h 1915.

1,232,640. 7 Patented July 10, 1917.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 3- M %1 alto 01421 W. D. WOOD.

FEEDING AND BURNING FINE FUEL.

APPLICATION man 001.21, 1-915.

Patented July 10, 1917.

5 SHEETS" SHEET 4- W. D. WOOD.

FEEDING AND BURNING FINE FUEL.

APPLICATION FILED 66121.1915.

Patented. July 10, 191?.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

Rs Ill/1171111111110111 TATE PATENT @Flfifit WALTER D. WOOD, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO FUEL SAVINGS COMIPANY, O33 ALLENTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

FEEDING AND BURNING FINE FUEL.

asaeao.

Specification of Letters Patent.

latei'ited July it 1917.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER D. W0on, a citizen of the United States residlng at Port Richmond Staten Island, in the county of Richmond, city and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful I m; provements in Feeding and Burning Flne Fuel, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accon'ipanying drawing.

This invention relates to certain improvements in mechanism for feeding and burning fine or pulverized fuel such as coal dust, anthracite culm or the fine screel'lings and other refuse from coal mining operations,

the invention being intended for use more particularly with the furnaces of locomo tives, although it may be applied for operation in conjunction withany kind of a steam boiler or other engine furnace. Among several objects held in view one is to simplify and improve the construction and arrangement of the various parts so to generate the maximum amount of heat from a given quantity of fuel and enable the machine to be operated economically at all times; and the invention consists essen tially in novel mixing and feeding appliances and means for creating and propelling the dust-laden vehicle, together with various automatic regulating devices and other mechanical adjustments which will permit the proper.quantity of fuel and air to be supplied to meet all given conditions. The invention also comprises numerous details and peculiarities in the'eonstruction and arrangement of the various parts. substantially as will be hereinafter described and then more particularly pointed out in the claims.

la the accompanying drawing illustrating my invention:

Figure is an enlarged sectional side elevation of a part of a locomotive and its tender with my present improved apparatus for burning powdered fuel applied operatively thereto; Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the tender showing a portion of my present improvements mounted thereon;

Fig. 3 is a front end elevation of the locomotive tender;

Fig. 4 is a partial horizontal section on the line 4, 4: of F ig. 1 of the mechanism for feeding the fine fuel to the furnace;

Fig. 5 is a partial top plan view of the nozzle col'istruct-ion shown in Fig. 41-;

Fig. (3 is a detail cross-section on the (3, (S of Fig. 4;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged sectional detaii of the mixing chaml'ier, the nozzle in the bot tom thereof, and the air blast passage;

Fig. is an enlarged sectional detail show ing one of the lateral inlets on the duplei: nozzle for the combustion air in its open position, together with means for operating the same;

Fig. 9 is an enlarged sectional detail on the line 9, 9 of Fig. 2 of the fuel-feeding device arranged in connection with the bin together with one of the agitators in the in terior of said bin;

Fig. 10 is a cross-section on the line 10, 10 of Fig. 9;

Fig. 11 is a horizontal sectional plan View of an improved mec anism for controlling the stack draft simultaneously with the closing of the engine throttle.

Similar characters of reference designate corresponding parts throughout the different figures of the drawing.

In discussing the construction and operation of my improved mechanism for burning fuel dust. I have preferred to represent the same in connection with an ordinary steam locomotive or engine; but, although this is a leading embodiment of the invention. it will be obvious that I do not wish to .be restricted thereto, since the improve-- nients may be employed in connection with any kind of boiler or furnace wherewith it is found effective and suitable to consume this kind of fuel.

fl denotes a locomotive; 2 a tender for carrying the fuel; and 28 a bin or receptacle on the tender for containing a quantity of the powdered or pulverized fuel which is supplied thereto in any suitable manner and is taken therefrom by suitable mechanism. as. for example, a screw conveyor 4 which operates within the bottom of the bin. as shown in Fig. 5), and also within a horizontal housing or casing 5 secured to the receptacle 28 and removable therewith when desired. Said screw conveyor 4. is provid d with a shaft 6 which projects through the end of the housing 5. In the bottom of the bin 28 is an opening 7 directly above the screw conveyer 4, and below theopening 7 is a pair of doors or leaves 8 consisting of horizontal curved blades which i rock back and forth on arms 9 carried by shafts 10. In their innermost position these leaves 8 have their edges in contact with each other and thus serve to close the opening 7 but by means of the arms and shafts they can be rocked so as to be placed a greater or less distance apart, thus making the discharge space below opening 7 larger or smaller so as to allow a greater or less amount of the fine fuel to drop through said opening to be caught by the conveyor 4. Above the opening 7 is an agitator 11 for stirring up the fine fuel in the lower part of the bin in a mannerto be presently explained. The housing 5 for the screw conveyer is provided on its underside near the forward end with a short depending spout 12 which delivers the fine fuel. into a circular mixing chamber 13 that is supported on an air blast. pipe 14 that connects with or is coupled to a centrifugal blower or air pump 15 which is mounted on the tender 2 alongside of and preferably in front of the fuel bin, all as fully shown in Figs. 1 and 2. In the lower part of the circular mixing chamber 13 is a bottom discharge opening 16 through which the commingled fuel dust drops into the air pipe 14,. and in said open ing 16 a curved nozzle 17 is supported in such a way that its small end 18 will project into the. circular chamber 13 close to I the pcrimeterof said chamber so as to deliver a portion of the air blast within the mixing chamber 13 along the curved wall thereof so as to create a whirling agitation and mixing. It will thus be seen that the curved nozzle 17 is so supported in the opening 16 and in the pipe 14 that its inner opening will be toward the fan and will receive a portion. of the current from said fan,

. which air current is thus split into two parts, one continuing onward through the larger passage 14'to the furnace, and theother being carried upwardly into the mixing chamber 18 through the curved nozzle 17 and delivered close to the inner wall, as

' I have said, so as to create a circumferential draft and cause a whirling action. .The pipe 14, when the fan 15 is located in the transverse position shown in Fig. 2 on the tender,

will lead transversely across the front of the tender for a certain distance, as shown in Fig. 3, and will then turn at an angle so as to lead over to the nozzle end thereof which is contiguous to the firing chamber Obviously this pipe 14 may be. a single pipe, or for greater convenience in its arrangement, it may be 'made in sections with flexible joints at 20, but of course the details may vary widely. The delivery end of the pipe 14 is within a concentric cylindrical box 21, which together with the pipe 14 constitutes a duplex nozzle, whose detailed construction and function I shall presently more fully describe.

The apparatus constituting my present improvements is actuated by means of a steam turbine engine or any other kind of a'motor 22, engine, or other driving machine, which is supported on some suitable part of the platform or main frame of the locomotive 1 at a point opposite to the tender 2. This motor, when it is a steam motor and is associated with a steam locomotive, receives its steam through the pipe 23 from the boiler of the locomotive and delivers its exhaust into an outlet pipe 24 which leads to the stack of the locomotive. The discharge of the exhaust into the stack and its union with the products of comb'ustion therein, assists in the making of a strong draft through the furnace, and, hence, promotes combustion in the firing chamber.

The motor 22 has a shaft 25, which by suit able sections and universal joints 26 leads across the space intervening between the locomotive and its tender and is connected to the main shaft 27 of the fan 15, as shown in Fig. 2. It is quite necessary that there should be sufficient flexibility in the shaft 25 to allow it to have all the necessary play across the gap between the locomotive and the tender that is necessary in consequence of the turning of curves and the oscillations and vibrations of the locomotive and cars in rapid running. It is similarly necessary obviously that the air blast pip 14 which runs to the furnace from the blower should be capable of adjusting itself to all the movements of the train as it runs around curves and otherwise.

Returning now to the description of the fuelbin 28 on .the tender 2, it is to be noted that outside of the inner wall 28 of the bin is an outer wall or inclosing chamber 3 separated a short distance from the wall of the bin 28 so as to leave an intervening space 29,

leaking through wall 3 at various points, it is desirable to have the double wall so that the water will be caught by the wall 3 and retained in the space 29 from which it can be removed without running into the intenor of the bin 28 and reachingthe fuel dust.

eeaeeo The fuel receptacle proper, therefore, con sists of the inclosing wall 28 which is spaced from the wall 3 by means of the angle bars 30, some of which are attached to the wall 28 and some to the wall 3, and which easily slide on each other so that at periodical times, or whenever it is suspected that leakage has entered the space 29, the said inner fuel bin can, by means of a derrick or hoisting apparatus, be lifted out entire with its contents from the inclosing' wall 3, and the moisture that may have accumulated in the bottom of the space 29 be easily disposed of, if it has not already run off through an outlet. It is absolutely essential that the fuel dust be kept perfectly dry at all times, for otherwise it will cake and not feed and the apparatus will. not operate. Usually it can easily be arranged that such water as may enter space 29 will run to the front and find an outlet which can easily be provided so that it can drop to the track or roadbed without touching or damaging the fuel in the slightest degree, and then by lifting the bin out as l have already explained the leaks can be easily repaired.

I have already stated that in the bottom of the fuel receptacle near the forw'ardend thereof and directly over the screw conveyer 4, is an agitator 11. This is for the purpose of breaking up the congested mass. of fueldust directly over the conveyor and allowing it to be evenly delivered to the conveyer through the discharge opening 7 and past the leaves-8. Particularly the agitator l1 prevents the dust from arching over and not feeding regularly where the leaves or doors 8 are only open a short distance. Right here is should be stated that the front wall of the fuel bin 3 is provided with sloping sides 31, of which there are two, as

shown in Fig. 2, converging on an angle inwardly from the outer wall of the bin to the middle portion of the same and also vertically inclined from top to bottom, as shown in Fig. 1, so as to keep the coal dust from piling up in the corners of the bin and thus facilitate the complete feeding of the mass of dust. Also, inside of this bin I arrange an endless conveyer consisting of a chain 32 carrying a series of scoops, buckets, or agitating blades said chain passing around sprocket wheels 34 at top and bottom of the bin. This endless conveyer is driven by suitable gearing connections. shown in Fig. 2 and to be presently specified. By means of the endless conveyer, therefore, which runs through the whole mass of the fuel contents of the bin, said contents will be forced downward and forward to the agitator for the purpose of preventing the mass from becoming compacted together and for distributing it so that it will find its way downwardly toward the outlet end of the bin.-

It may be further remarked that not only is the front wall 31 inclined, as explained, but also the bottom 28 is rearwardly inclined so that the fuel may have a tendency to move forward.

I have arranged the agitator 11 and also the endless conveyer 32 so that they may be brought into or thrust out of action separately from each other, and to this end I have supplied levers 35 and 36 on the front end of the tender 2 where they can be conveniently manipulated by the attendant; one lever, as 36, having the function of throwing the agitator 11, into or out of action, and the other lever 35 having the function of throwing the endless conveyer 32 into or out of action. Referrin r to Fig. 9 the agitator 11 has its shaft 3 mounted in bearings 38, 38 and 39 and provided witha gear wheel 40. The lever 36, which is pivoted at 41 on the housing 5, operates one portion of a jaw clutch 42 which slides on the shaft 37 and is adapted to engage the other toothed half 43 of said clutch which is fast on the shaft 37; therefore, when the lever 36 is manipulated so as to place the two sections 42 and 43 of the clutch in engagement with each other, the shaft 37 will be driven by its gear wheel 40. The lever 35 is pivoted at 44'on the housing 5 and engages a friction clutch 45 which is adapted in one position to clutch the bevel pinion 46 to the shaft 37 and at another time to set the gear free. When the lever 35 is operated so as to clutch the gear wheel 46 to the shaft 37, said gear wheel will revolve and being in engagement with, the bevel gear wheel 47 on a shaft 48 will drive said shaft, which in turn through the sprocket chain 49 and the .procket wheel 50 on the end of shaft 48 will transmit motion to the sprocket wheels 34 and endless conveyer 32 within the bin which has already been explaincd. in the ordinary running of the apparatus the agitator 11 will be in action most of the time, and, hence, when the lever 36 has brought the clutch ing sections 42 and 43 together they will remain so during the usual operation of the apparatus. The lever 35 will only require to be operated at intervals for the purpose of driving the endless convever for a short time so as to force the fuel mass forward and downward. With reference to the actuation of the shaft 37 bv the gear wheel 4-0 it will be seen that said gear wheel is in mesh with the pinion 5] on the shaft 6 of the screw conveyer 4. ()n the latter shaft there is also a sprocket wheel 52 around which passes a chain 53 that is driven by a sprocket wheel 54 on the shaft 27 of the fan or blower 15.

The leaves or doors 8 which control the size of the passage below opening 7 are operated by means of a lever 55 pivoted at 56 to the front of the tender 2 and having a toothed segment 57 engaged by the catch 58 to hold the lever in any desired position. Links 59 connect the end of said -lever 55 "with crank arms 60 attached to the ends of the shafts 10, as shown in Fig. 10. The lever 55is also provided with another link 61 which is pivoted to an arm 62 on a shaft 63 by means of which the shutters or dampers for supplying additional combustion air directly from the atmosphere to the duplex nozzle are operated as indicated in Fig. 1 and as I shall presently more fully describe. Said link 61 is also at any one of several points connected to a slotted arm 64: attached to a butterfly-valve 65 in the air pipe 14, which valve opens the discharge through said pipe to a greater or less extent so as to regulate the pressure of the blast from the fan 15 which passes to the furnace and proportion the same to the quantity of fuel which is being fed out of the bin'into the mixing chamber and thence to the same air blast. Although I have shown the means for regulating the size of the fuel discharge and. also the means-for varying the pressure and amount of said air blast as located on the front of the tender, yet it will be understood that I do not wish to be restricted to this location, although it is a convenient one and is contiguous to the lever handles 35 and 36, but if desired a flexible shaft may run to the engineers cab where he can operate these devices more readily and with greater dexterity because of their closer proximity to him.

Referring now to Fig. 4, it will be seen that the pipe or conduit 14 for conveying the commingled fuel dust and air under pressure leads "into a concentric cylinder 21 which latter runs directly into the furnace 19. as shown in Fig. 1. The end of the pipe 14 is flaring, or has a flaring member 66, so that the fuel may be distributed more fully in the concentric pipe 21 of the nozzle, and its velocity at egress reduced on account of the enlarged area of said flaring end. a thing which is highly desirable. The end of pipe 14 is preferably built as shown in Fig. 4; where the flaring mouth thereof is made as a separate telescoping member 66 which slides back and forth on the pipe 14, being operated by means of lever handle 67 which is pivoted to a link 68 that is in turn pivoted to the telescopic flaring month. At certain times it is desirable that the flaring discharge end should be located closer to the furnace than at other times, as for example,

when the fire is to be kept down. By this means the flarin mouth can be extended to the inner end of the cylinder 21 or be with drawn back quite a distance from the same. This is advantageous, therefore, at those times when only a very small amount of fuel is needed to keep the engine in condition to start out promptly with the steam up and,

where,- if the fuel were fed through the main nozzle in the usual way without any adjustment of the parts, it would be apt to create such an intense heat at these waiting or lay-over times as to burn off the nozzle, there being not enough air and coal admitted to carry the flame away from the nozzle. This is effectually avoided by the arrangement shown. In this case, moreover, means must be provided to feed enough combustion air through this inner nozzle, and at the same time throw the regular mechanism out of gear. This is made possible by furnishing a takeup device for the butterflyalve 65, that is to say, another notch on link 61, (see Fig. 7) so that the valve 65 may be opened the extra required distance so that additional air for combustion may pass through pipe 14, while at the same time the shaft controlling the air vents on the nozzle would be thrown out in like manner, since these at this time remain closed.

I will now proceed to describe the means for automatically admittin air to the du- .plex nozzle directly from the atmosphere and also for admitting atmospheric air directly to the interior of the fire box 19. The cylindrical pipe 21. which forms a part of the duplex nozzle and surrounds the flaring on the upper ends of which are crank arms 72 that are connected by a cross link 73 for the purpose of enabling the dampers 70 to be operated in unison. The shaft 63 is operativcly connected with a shaft 74L alongside of the duplex nozzle, suitable universal joints 116 and a link or links 118 being used for the purpose of making this connection. The shaft 74c runs through the wall of pipe 69 which serves as a bearing and support for it and is provided with an arm or arms 75 in the pipes 69 that are pivotedto a slotted plate 76 that engages a pin 77 projecting from an car 78 on the inside of the damper 7 O at a point a short distance from the axis of said damper. The rotation of the shaft 74: will, through the agency of the crank arm 7 5, project the plate 76 outwardly from 79 in the plate 7 6 runs perpendicular to the y axis of the shaft 7 1 until it reaches the outer end of plate 7 6 where it turns at a right angle to form the indented slot 80. Plate 76 is so positioned with relation to the damper 70 that when the latter is closed so as to cover the end of the pipe 69, the pin 77 will occupy the indented slot 80, the parts then being in the position shown in Fig. 4. Now, as before stated, when the shaft 74 rotates, it will, through the enga 'ement of the slotted end 80 with the pin 7 push the adescapee jacent damper outwardly in the direction shown in Fig. 8, turning it on its pivot, and when it has been opened to its fullest ex tent, that is to say, when the damper 70 is perpendicular to the axis of the shaft 74, the pin 7 7 will slide out of the right-angled end slot into the elongated slot 79 and the further onward rotary movement of the shaft 74 will cause the pin 77 to travel along in said slot 7 9 Without producing any further efi'ect beyond holding the valve 70 in its completely open position. Thus it will be seen that a partial rotation of the shaft 74- is effective in opening the dampers '70. After said dampers have thus been opened and the plate 7 6 occupies the position shown in Fig. 8 where the pin 77 is in the slot 79, a continued rotation of the shaft 74 will bring into action a damper belonging to a box 81 Which surrounds the nozzle cylinder 21. and is connected to the nozzle so as to admit air directly to the furnace 19, as shown in Fig. 1. This damper, which is denoted by the reference numeral. 82, is preferably in the bottom of the box 81 and is pivoted at each end by means of pivots 83. The shaft 74 projects through the front wall of the box 81 and is provided with a crank arm which is pivoted to a tube 853 that receives loosely in the end thereof a rod 86 having an adjustcollar 81'' thereon, provided with a setsrren' for clamping the collar at any desired point, the end of said rod 86 being pivoted at '7 to an curb!) on the damper Thus it wi l be seen that after the lateral dampers 70 been ci'i'tirely opened the continued rotation of the she l t 74 will, "through the crank il. cause the tube 85 to slide on the rod 86 until its stril-res the collar 87 which will inlorrupt its sliding movement so that the further movement of the ube 85 Will act upon the car R9 and open the damper 82 by oscillating it on its pivots The collar can be changed in position so as to regulate the extent of the opening of the damper 82 for a given movement of the tube 85. A ret r u movement of the tube 85 in the other l will. withdraw it from the collar 5&7 so that a counterbalanee )0 on an arm .91 extending from one of the pivot pins 83, will act to return the damper to its closed l'lUSl'tlOll, it being obvious that any suitable spring or other substitute means for the weight may be einployed if desired. Cases often arise where it is desirable to introduce combustion air directly from the atmosphere to the duplex nozzle through the dampers 70 without inlrmiucing any additional air directly to the furnace ,from the atmosphere through the damper 82, while at other times it is desirable to introduce air gradually,

letting in a quantity through the dam- Ii) and then an additional amount by the damper hence. the arrangement which I have justdescribcd will be found to he useful in enabling a raduated quantity of air to be thus suppliefby certain actions of the shaft 74. Manifestly the dampers 70 can be operated without opening the damper 82, though by continuing the rotation of the shaft 74 said damper 82 can also be opened. The rotation of the same element, therefore, operates a means for supplying combustion air to the duplex nozzle and also means for supplying atmospheric air directly to the furnace, the operation of said separate means taking place successively, or separately, or in any other desired manner.

My duplex nozzle, consisting of the front end of the fuel delivery pipe 14 and the concentric surrounding pipe or box 21, is of great value with an apparatus of this kind, be-ause it enables the velocity or the fuel to be reduced before it reaches the firing chamber. If the fuel pipe 14 entered the firing chamber directly, the intensity of the. blast would be so great that when the fuel bursts into flame, it Would have a blow pipe elioct upon the walls of the fire brick and destroy the same; therefore, I provide the c mcentric pipe or box 21 of considerable larger diameter than the pipe 14:, into which the pipe 1% or its nozzle 66 delivers the dustladen current, and as the. flaring mouth or discharge is ordinarily some distance away from the fire box, it diffuses and spreads the fuel outwardly through the larger pipe 21, and thus reduces its velocity in the pipe 21 below that in the tube 14. When the velocity of the current is thus diminished, it is easy to add additional combustion air through the lateral valves 70, but it would not be easy to supplement a single air current of undiminished velocity discharging directly into the fire box, for the danger already pointed out would be greatly increased by this addition of extra combustion air. Further, it is also desirable in many cases to introduce a supply of air directly from the atmosphere to tie fire box, and this I do in the present example of the invention through the chan1- ber 81 having inlet valve Obviously the second supplement of combustion air -which is thus introduced directly into the furnace might, by a rearrangement of the parts, he introduced into the nozzle, but many modifications manifestly may take place in the arrangement of the parts, the essential point being that delivery means for the fuel to the fire box are provided in which plenty of combustion air is used with out increasing the velocity of the incoming current, but maintaining the same at such a rate that although the necessary flame will be produced, it will not be destructive of the apparatus.

The fire box 19 is constructed in a peculiar and novel manner, as set forth in my copcnding afu'ilication for Letters Patent thereon, filed March23, 1914, Serial No.. 826,642.

The space ordinarily occupied by the grates, ash pan, etc., is replaced by an auxiliary chamber, as shown in Fig.1, which is depressed quite a little below the usual level of the bottom of the fire box, and this chamber is sheathed with fire brick. The sides of the chamber slope toward the bottom, while the bottom slopes toward an opening, as 92, at some particular point, say the forward end, below which opening hangs a slag .an 93, sometimes containing water or other uid, to act as a seal to maintain a vacuum in the fire box and also to receive and retain any slag or any foreign matter formed in the process of combustion. Within thefire box is an inclined arch 94 supported by water tubes and having at one end an opening through which the flame passes to the space above the arch after being deflected rearwardly and upwardly by means of the powerful draft from the stack. [is already explained, the air and powdered fuel that are mixed in the mixing chamber 13 are forced into the fire box through a suitable the engineer at all times has completely undirectly to the furnace.

opening by means of the duplex nozzle, the speed and quantity of the dust-laden air current. being dependent, of course, upon well-known conditions and the proper proportions of the air and coal being maintained. The draftfrom the locomotive stack acts on the burning material from the movment'of its introduction into the fire box un til after the burning is finished, or. to state it otherwise, the vacuum eifect of the draft through the stack causes the fuel and air mixture to burst instantly into a fierce flame which leaps with great intensity upwardly through the fire box and is deflected bythe arch into the opening or openings and around into the space above the arch, but

der his control the air and fuel supply, and since. under many circumstances a single conduit like the passage 14 will not carry sufficient air for the quantity of fuel needed 'for a fire in the fire box to create and maintain the proper steam'pressure without making other parts and conditions prohibitive, it becomes necessary to furnish additional combustion air to the nozzle and at other times directly to the tire box also, so that for this purpose ll have provided the means controlled by the lever 55, which by a certain movement rotates the shaft 63- s'utli ciently to actuate the dampers for admitting additional amounts of air to meet and be combined with the coal dust vehicle discharging from the flaring mouth 66; while a further movement of the lever which will impart an additional rotation to the shaft 63, will also operate the damper 82 which furnishes additional atmospheric air It will be seen, therefore, that the movement of the single Les 2,64

i which is to be supplied to the, current going forward to the furnace and also the intensity and quantity of the propelling air blast therefor coming from the fan, but will also regulate and determine the amount of the successive instalments of outside atmospheric air needed to make a completely satisfactory combustion of the fuel in the furnace.

\Vhen the engineer closes the throttle of the engine to cut off the steam and to bring the engine to a stop the supply of exhaust steam to the stack which assists in the development of a strong draft and is an important agent in the operation of a device of this character, in that a strong draft is necessary to make satisfactory combustion within the furnace, is cut off and consequently if the supply of fuel remains the same with such a decreased draft, the intensity of the fire would be so great as to be apt to cause a. back fire through furnace doors, nozzles, or other openings, vwhich would be highly dangerous to the lives of the employees; hence, I find it desirable to provide means whereby, when the engine is throttled, a supply of steam will simultaneously be delivered directly from the boiler to the stack so as to keep up the draft. Referring to Fig. 11, 95 designates a pipe running from the boiler to the stack, there bein a short valve-provided pipe 96 extending into the boiler from said pipe so that there may be two outlets from the boiler into the pipe 95 when the valve of pipe 96 is open. In the length of this pipe 95, I interpose two cut-off valves, one at 97 and the other at 98. The valve 97 consists of a block contained within a casing 11? and provided with a passage 99, which passage is adapted to coincide with the bore of the pipe 95 at certain times in the reciprocatory movement of the valve 97. A spring 100 underneath the valve 97 presses ittoward the opposite end of the cylinder and when normally extended causes the valve 97 to block the bore of the pipe 95. From the outer end of the cylinder 117 a pipe 101 leads to the steam pipe 23 coming from the boiler which carries live steam to the turbine 22 for the purpose of actuating the same, said pipe 23 being preferably provided with a valve 102 at a short distance from the boiler. When the valve 102 is open filling the pipe 23 with steam, the steam pressure will pass through the pipe 101 and actuate the valve 97, compressing the spring 100 and bringing the passage 99 into coincidence with the bore of the pipe 95 so that steam can pass through said pipe. Whenthe valve 102 is closed, however, the steam pressure in pipe 101 will be diminished or removed so that the spring 100 will cause the valve 97 to close the pipe 95 at that point. The

other ,valve 98 is contained within a cylinder 104 and is provided with a passage 103 adapted to coincide at times with the bore of the pipe 95, there being a spring 105 which is interposed between thevalve 98 and one end of the cylinder, and having the function of normally pressing the valve 08 toward the opposite end of the cylinder and in a position where it will block the bore of the pipe 95 and prevent steam from passing. Entering the wall of the cylinder 104, near the end thereof, is a pipe 106 which leads back to the same pipe 95, and in the course of this pipe 106 there is interposed a valve 107 contained within a cylinder 108 secured to the end of the cylinder 1041, which valve 107 isprovided with a passage 109 adapted to coincide with the bore of the pipe 106 at certain times. The valve 107 is provided with a stem 110 projecting through the end of the cylinder 108 and enveloped by a spring 111 which is tcnsioned between the end of the cylinder and the head 112 on the end of the stem 110. This spring 111, therefore, normally keeps the valve 107 in a position where the passage through the pipe-100 is obstructed and steam cannot pass. By pressing against the head 112, however, and compressing the spring 111, the valve 107 can be thrust into the opposite end of its cylinder 108, and its passage 109 thereby brought into coincidence with the bore of the pipe 106 so that pressure may pass through said pipe andthrough the valve 107. These two valves 97 and 98 .are supported on the front of the boiler, by having their cylindrical casings 117 and 104 suitably bolted to the boiler wall. At a suitable point between the valve structures there is a rod 113 that leads to the throttle of the engine, and this rod 113 is operated by a lever 1141 pivoted to a support 115 projecting from the boiler wall. its path the head 11.2 of the auxiliary valve 107, so that when said lever is actuated for the purpose of closing the throttle the valve stem .110 will be pressed inwardly and steam will be allowed to pass through the pipe 106. closes his throttle, the act of so doing will automatically cause steam to be admitted from theboiler through pipe 95 into pipe 100. the result of which will be to carry steam into the cylinder 104 and against the valve 08 compressing the spring 105 and bringing the passage 103 into coincidence with the bore of the pipe 95 so that steam will find its way through said pipe, unless it should happen that the valve 102 is at the time closed so that the valve 07 cuts off the passage in the pipe 05, but ordinarily this will not occur, for the valvc07 will be open with its passage 99 registering with Lever 114 has in.v

Whenever, therefore, the engineerthe pipe/95 when the turbine or other motoi for driving the fan is in operation in the ordinary running of the apparatus. Therefore, if this valve 97 is open, the steam admitted by the opening of the valve 98 will be carried through the pipe 95 to the stack, there to commingle with the smoke and other products of combustion and to supplement the action thereof so as to keep up the draft to the proper degree to dispose of the burning fuel even though the throttle is closed. Of course, if the turbine is not running, the valve 102 having been closed, then there would be no need of supplying any additional shaft to the furnace because the' fuel supply will have been stopped, and theclosing of the throttle will be without any result in the way of conveyingfsteam to the stack. I find in the practical ope-ration of my invention that this device shown in Fig. 11, is of considerable importance.

The operation of my improved apparatus for feeding and burning fine fuel will be clear to those skilled in the art after a perusal of the foregoing description of the construction and arrangement of the various parts. The single lever'55 not only controls the quantity of fuel which is being fed into the mixing chamber, but also the size of the opening made by the butterfly valve 65, and consequently the amount of air mingling with said fuel and carrying the same forward in the initial formation of the dustladen current, and also the lever through the single rotating shaft 63 (and its connections) controls the supply of additional combustion air to the duplex nozzle, as also the supply of atmospheric air directly to the firing, chamber. All of these parts are properly proportioned and related to each other so that the engineer can at all times tell exactly from his gages and indicators whether more or less fuel ought to be supplied to make the heat needed to keep up the steam; that is to say, in the original con-' struction in laying out the various parts of the apparatus and combining them with each other for the object in view, the adjustments will be made as reqi'lired and the relation of the parts set and established so that no change therein will be needed, eX cept under unusual conditions. Therefore, by the use of the single lever 55 the whole fuel problem is taken care of, excepting such occasional shifts as may be needed of the levers 35 and 30 to care for the feeding of the fuel from the bin to the air current, and except, of course, that the valve 102 must be used to start and stop the motor which runs the fan, conveyers, etc. Also, in slow-- ing down the engineer may find it desirable to use the lever 114, and again in certain special cases he may manipulate the lever 67. I, therefore, provide a very simple and useful arrangement of mechanical parts whereby the difliculties and contingencies in the operation'of an apparatus of this class are reduced to the lowest limit and a very excellent control is attained.

In the practical operation of the apparatus,

it may be found useful to vary or modify the construction and arrangement .of many of the mechanical details, and, I, therefore, reserve the liberty of making all such changes as experience may suggest to be wise and efficacious Without exceeding the scope of the claims.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is: I I 1. In an apparatus for feeding and burning fine fuel, the combination of a mixing chamber, means for supplying fuel thereto, means for creating and supplying an air current, means for carrying said current to the mixing chamber and to the furnace, the current being divided for this purpose and that Which passes from the mixing chamber being dust-laden While theother part of the air current commingles with said dust-laden current and travels forward With it into the furnace, valve mechanism for controlling the amount of the air current, and other valve mechanism for controlling the quantity of the fuel supplied to the mixing chamber, together with means for jointly operating the valve devices.

2. In an apparatus for feeding and burning fine fuel, the combination of a mixing chamber, means for supplying fuel thereto, means for creating an air current which passes to the furnace and carries a mixture of air and fuel thereto under strong pressure, means for deflecting a portion of this current into the mixing chamber to form the mixture, a controlling. valve for the air, and another for the fuel,- together With a single lever for operating both valves.

3. In an apparatus for feeding and burning fine fuel, the combination of a mixing chamber, means for supplying fuel thereto,

a fan for creating an air blast, a nozzle for diverting a portion of said blast into the mixing chamber, a pipe for carrying the dust-laden vehicle from the mixing chamber to the furnace, a valve in the pipe leading from the fan for controlling the amount of air delivered by the fan, and means for actuating said valve so that the air may be in proportion to the amount of fuel fed into the mixing chamber.

4. In an apparatus for feeding and burning fine fuel, the combination of a mixing chamber, a screw conveyor for carrying fuel thereto, a valve for controlling the quantity of fuel fed to the conveyer, a fan for creating an air blast whlch commmgles vnth the fuel in the mixing chamber, a valve for regu' naeaeao lating the amount of such air current, a passage for carrying the dust-laden current to the firing chamber, said passage having a flaring delivery mouth, a chamber surrounding said flaring mouth and provided With a valve'device for admitting additional combustion air, and another valve mechanism for admitting air directly to the furnace, all of said valve devices for the fuel and the air being conjointly operated.

5. In an apparatus for feeding and burning fine fuel, the combination of a mixing chamber for commingling air and coal dust, a pipe for carrying the dust-laden current to the point to'be burned, a flaring nozzle on the end of said pipe, a fire box, a box surrounding said flaring mouth and into which it discharges, and lateral valves on said box, a shaft for operating them, sa1d shaft havand a duplex'nozzlc for introducing the current to the fire box, of a valve for said nozzle, a rotary shaft for operating said valve, said shaft having a projecting member thereon, a slotted plate pivoted to said projecting member and engaging the valve, and a second valve for introducing additional. atmospheric air, said valve being connected With the aforesaid shaft and operated by a further rotation of the same While the first mentioned valve is being held open.

7. In an apparatus for feeding and burning fine fuel, the combination with a tube or conduit for carrying a dust-laden current to be burned, a fire box in Which the burning takes place, a duplex nozzle for discharging the fuel into the fire box, a pair of valves on saiil nozzle, means for connecting them for joint movement, a rotary shaft having a projecting member thereon, a plate pivoted to said member and provided with a longitudinal slot perpendicular tothe shaft and having an indented end engaging and opening one of the valves so that the rotation of the shaft will open the valve and hold'it open during a part of the rotation of the shaft.

8. In an apparatus for feeding and burn ing fine fuel, the combination With a tube Nil? ' and means also operated by the same shaft for opening thenext valve after the first has beenopened.

- 9LIn an apparatus for feeding and burn-.

ing fiiiefuel, the combination of means for ,creatihg and supplying a dust-laden current to be burned in the furnace, nozzle having a flaring discharge, a single 'rotating member contiguous to the delivery point, means for regulating the supply of fuel and air which forms the dust-laden current, and also rotating said shaft, a valve for admitting auxiliary air, means connecting said valve with the rotating shaft so that the latter will open the valve and lock it in its open position for the time being, and a valve'for admitting air directly'to the fura delivery nace, together with means whereby said valve is opened during the period that the first mentloned valve is locked in its open position. i

10.' In an apparatus for feeding. and burning fine fuel, the combination with a tube or .t'onduit conveying a dust-laden current to be burned, and a fire box, of a duplex nozzle for the discharge of said dust-laden current into the fire box, and a series of valves for admitting additional atmospheric air to promote the combustion, a draft stack, and means therein for supplying a steam jet to cause a vacuum in the fire box fordrawing the combustion air in when the engineers throttle is closed, said steam jet supplyin means being actuated bv the closing of said throttle, together with yielding valve mechanism that opens to allow the said steam jet to flow into the stack, said valve mechanism being actuated when the feeder engine is running by steam pressure from the pipe which supplies said feeder engine.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

' WALTER D. WOOD.

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