US1508497A - Chute guard - Google Patents

Description

R. BALM ER CHUTE GUARD Seix.' 16 1924.'

Filed March 5, 1924 INVENTOR.

A TTORNE Y.

Patented Sept. 16, 1924.

Lacan? y FMC aos-ear satana, 'or fro-Romo, @amare CANADA.

cHir'rE GUARD.

Application filed March 5, 1924. Serial No. 697,106.

To 'all whom t may concern:

Be it knownn that 1Ro13nfn'r BALMEB, a subject ofthe King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and a citizen of the Dominion of Canada, and` a resident of the city of Toronto, in the Province of Ontario, in said Dominion, am the inventor or discoverer ofl certain n'ew and useful Im'- provements in Chute Guards, of which the following is a description.

My invention relates to guards for vchutes adapted lto protect a worker from accidents in places where the mouth of a cl'iute, a trapd'oor, or like openingv in a lfloor is employed for chargingmaterial therethrough; it -particularly yconcerns -a guard for floor openings employed as the mouths of chutes in incinerators or garbage furnaces where material is manually drawn to a chute and adjacent which mouth the worker must stand and across which he must reach with a longhandler rake to draw the waste, rubbish and garbage toward the chute-mouth for delivery therethrough to a {ire-grate on a lower level. y

It has for its object the prevention of the workman from getting into the chute, by guarding the mouth thereof from all vsides by akparticular form of grating which at the same time will lnot interfere with the work, and, on the contrary, will facilitate the handling of the heavy rakes customarily employed. A further object is the provision in such a guard of means adapted to prevent the introduction of any over-sized object or any excess mass of garbage into the chute.y

With the foregoing and other hereinafter recited objects in'vi'ew', my invention consists inthe structural means set forth and described in the following specification, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification. wherein is shown a preferred structural embodiment of my invention as applied to a garbage incinerator of the type illustrated in United States Letters-Patent Number 1.442.116, granted me January 16, 1923, and Number 1,460,566, granted me July 3, 1923.

In these drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of a conventionalized destructor, showing my invention as adapted thereto; Figure 2 is a vertical perspective view of my chute guard, and part of the chute associated therewith, viewed from the position indicated by the line 2 2 in Fig. 1, looking in the direction indicated by the base 12 resting on'the arrow; and Figure 3 is a plan view thereof. LikeV reference .characters indicate corre# spon ding parts throughout.

l is a furnace chamber and 2 a grate therein. 3 is a waste storage bi'n having a floor inclined toward the doorway4 thereof.'

5 is'the working floor. iioor opening at its bottominto the-chain` ber 1 and having its mouth in fthe floor 5. A hinged .cover 7 may be provided at the ,f6 is a chute' in said mouthof theJ chute, as shown.-` Itis s howi'i closing the chutemouth, anda drop or hop*- p'er bottom 8 is shown in open position, with a sliding coverl 9 for closing, the furnace chamber and supportingthe bottom 8. Beneath the fioor is an `ang-le `bar 1 0 rigidly supporting the guard elements or bars 11, 11, which are cross braced by the supporting bar 10 and to which the elements 11 are detachably secured as by screw-bolts,to facilitate vdismounting. upper bracel3 is similarly attached to the bars 11.v The elements l11 are lpreferably7 iron barsextending vertically the height lof the` door 4, bent.` over at substantiallyright angles and extending across theymouthkof f the chute, and Vat their ends bent downwardly, leaving an openingl l1.4 opposite the door 4. The height and width of this opening are less than the length of the shorter side of the mouth of the chute, if both are rectangular; or, the vdiameter `of the mouth of the chute is greater than the longest linear dimension kof the opening ofthe guard, if the chute-opening is lof circular or like form. The bars llwith the supports 1-2 and 13 constitute a grating affording openings between elements 11. between which elements a rake handle may be extended by the workman standing on the floor 5 in a station indicated approximately by the section line 2 2 of Figure 1. The rake may be thrust into the bin, the handle being between the bars, with freedom of vertical movement of the handle. Similarly the rake-may be drawn back and of the bars through the opening afforded without hindrance by the guard. At the Sametime, the cross brace 13 affords a bridge upon which long-handled implements such under the endsy as the garbage-rake may be slid forward and back, theirweight being supported thereby. This cross-brace thus'serves as a fulcrum and facilitates the handling of the heavy implements. The opening 14 afforded by the guard on the side opposite and registering with the doorway 4 permits a lateral range of play for the rake suicient to handle and haul the rubbish, garbage or like waste as accumulated in the bin. The dimensions of the opening 14 are such that any mass or obj ect which can pass therethrough will likewise pass through the chute 6. Side members 15, 15 may be used if desired to complete the housing of the opening. The raised door 7 assists in directing the material into the chute as a stop against which it may be raked, and the sides cooperate in this utility.

I have shown my invention as applied to a garbage incinerator because it has especial value in protecting the workers who must stand close to an opening over a furnace in order to feed the material to its grate and who are liable to lean too far over the opened chute in order to reach further back into the bin unless prevented. With an open chute unguar-ded, there is the further danger that the workman may lose his balance, if he leans over the chute, by reason of the effect upon him o f flame, heat or gases rising from the fire or by reason of slipping if the floor is wet.

While I have thus shown my chute guard as applied to an incinerator having a horizontal fire grate fed from above, I appreciate the broader utility of my invention and do not intend to be understood as limiting its application thereto or combination therewith, but desire it understood to be useful with other structures presenting like or other hazards; nor do I intend to be understood as limiting my invention to the structural embodiment shown and described, since I believe it susceptible of realization in variously modified forms within the definitions thereof given in the appended claims.

Having thus described and shown my preferred form, I claim:

1. A chute-guard composed of a plurality of vertically disposed members spaced apart and extending first upwardly, then horizontally, ing at inside length of their horizontal extension.

2. A chute-guard composed of a plurality of vertically ldisposed members spaced apart and extending rst upwardly, then horizontally, and then downwardly, and terminating at a height above the floor equal to the inside length of their horizontal extension, the two outside elements having each a side closure element associated therewith.

3. A chute-guard composed of a plurality of vertically disposed members spaced apart and extending first upwardly, then horizontally, and then downwardly, and terminating ata height above the floor equal to the inside length of their horizontal extension, an-d an upstanding base common to said members and detachable therefrom.

t. A chute-guard composed of a plurality of vertically disposed members spaced apart and extending first upwardly, then horizontally, and then downwardly, and terminating at a height above the floor equal to the inside length of their horizontal extension, the two outside elements having each a side closure element associated therewith, and an upstanding base common to said members and detachable therefrom.

5. A chute-guard composed of a plurality of vertically disposed members spaced apart and extending first upwardly, then horizontally, and then downwardly, and terminating at a height above the floor equal to the inside length of their horizontal extension, an-d a cross brace common to said members and constituting a tool rest.

6. In combination, a chute and a guard therefor, the guard being composed of a plurality of bars extending upwardly and over the chute to be guarded and downwardly therebeyond, the downwardly projecting ends of the bars terminating above a side of the chute and affording an opening whose longest dimension is less than the shortest dimension of the chute.

ROBERT BALMER.

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