US1548722A - Grate shaker - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 4, 1925. 1,548,722

*N. M. LOWER GRATE SHAKER Filed July 13, 1921 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 WITNESSESS INVENTOR BY m WWW ATTORNEYS Aug. 4, 1925.

N. M. LOWER GRAIE SHAKER v 3 Sheets-Shes Filed July 13 WITNESSESS ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 4, 1925.

UNITED STATES NATHAN M. LOWER, OF BELLEVUE, PENNSYLVANIA.

snare SHAKER.

Application filed July 13, 1921.

To aZZwhom it may concern:

Be it known that I, NATHA M. Lownn, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Bellevue, in the countyof Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have 1nvented a new and useful Improvement in Grate Shakers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to grate shakers. More particularly it relates to power driven locon'iotive grate shakers.

The object of the invention is to provide means to rock the rate bars of a locomotive upontheir axis, hrst in one direction, and then in the other, by means of a fluid pressure driven mechanism. Another object of the invention is to provide means to drive the grate bars so that they may be fully tilted or rocked upon their axis, but at the same time to insure the return of the grate bars to their normal horizontal plane, after the shaking or rocking operation is completed. Another object is to provide a mechanism by which the entire grate may be simultaneously shaken by a power drive, or any section, or any combination of sections, rocked without moving the other sections. Other objects and advantages of the invention Will be apparent to those familiar with the art from the following specification.

Referring to the drawings Fig. 1 is a partial rear elevation of a portion of a locomotive, with an embodiment of the present invention applied thereto; Fig. 2 is a partial rear elevation at right angles to the plane of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a vertical cross section through the driving cylinder shown in end elevation in. Fig. 1, on the line III-J11 of Fig. 4; 4: is alongitudinal partial section through the cylinder of Fig. 3 upon the line IV--IV of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a horizontal section on the line V-V of Fig. 3, showing the control valve mechanism; and Fig. 6 is a central vertical section through a modified form of driving cylinder.

Grate shakers have heretofore been provided for locomotives, in which thepower was applied either by hand through suitable lever and connecting means, or else by steam or compressed air, driving an ordinary re.- ciprocating piston in a cylinder. The disadvantage of these two methods is as fol.- lows: y

l The cinders or clinkers become very hard and unite into a unitary mass over the grate, which is so strong and coherent that it re- Serial No. 484,303.

quires a strong force to raise the sides of the grate bar into or through it. Furthermore, after the grate bars have been tilted out of the horizontal plane towards the vertical plane, pieces of the clinker {all down between the grate bars, and to restore the grate bars to their normal horizontal plane the clinker which is caught between them must be crushed or sheared off. This requires a considerable amount of force, and very frequently when the hand operated shaker is used the fireman is unable to free the grate bars, and restore them to their normal position, for this reason. Consequently he frequently leaves the grate bars in a tilted position with the result that coal and cinders that have not been sufficiently burned may escape through the wide gaps left between the grate bars. In addition the fingers of the grate bars which are turned up into the fire box tend to burn ofl under the intense heat to which they are exposed. Furthermore, in these days of independence of labor, firemen refuse to do the hard work required for shaking a locomotive grate by hand.

The power driven shakers heretofore provided have been of the type above referred to, namely driven by a horizontally reciprocating piston. lVith such a driving means it is necessary to connect the piston, or links leading from it, to the grate bars in such a way that when the piston is at each end of its stroke the grate bars are tilted on edge, their horizontal position being at the middle of the stroke of the piston. Otherwise, if the piston be so connected that the grate bars are horizontal at one end of its stroke, it is only possible'to tilt the bars in one direction by the use of the cylinder. This is of course unsatisfactory, and such an arrangement has not been used to any material extent. The result of such an arrangement is that in order to bring the grate bars back to horizontal position it is necessary to stop tl' e movement of the power driven piston in the middle of its stroke. That is a difficult thing to do, and in the power driven grate shakers which are now used it is no uncommon thing to see the fireman try live or six times before he can catch the driving piston at the middle point, and shut off his steam J at the right time to bring the grate bars to rest in the horizontal position. If he fails in this, and leaves the bars tilted, the fingers may be burned off.

The present invention is designed to obviate these difliculties by providing a power driven mechanism, so arranged that the grate bars will be turned down on one side from the horizontal, back up to the horizontal, down on the other side, and back up to the horizontal, at each stroke of the steam driven member. Consequently, no matter how many times the fireman may 'rock the grate bars with such a mechanism,

of the other sections, or all may be shaken together, as the fireman may desire.

Furthermore, means are provided for bringing thegrates to rest in a tilted position, as may bedesired at the round houses when the'lirebox is being cleaned out by breaking up and removing the clinkers through the grate.

Referring to Fig. l of the drawings, a portion of the the box wall 1 of the loco motive is shown with the ordinary water spaces 2 and outer wall 3, with anopening 4 for the fire door above. 48. series of standard grate bars 5 are shown. As will be readily understood these bars consist. of central transverse shafts 6 having laterally extending finger portions 7 and 8, as is usual in locomotive constructions. Each of the bars is provided with an underside exten sion 9 and these extensions are all pinned to a connecting link or bar 10, extending longitudinally of the engine underneath the grate. To this link 10 there is pivotally attached another link 11, which extends to and is pivotally attached to the lower end 12 of a lever member 13 which is pivotally mounted near its middle point upon a shaft 14, which extends only part way across the locomotive. The upper end 15 of the lever member 13 is tapered, and is adapted to receive and engage the open end 16 of a handle member 17. This arrangement so far described is the ordinary one for shaking the grate bars 5 by hand. mien the upper end of the lever member 17 is moved forward and back, the link ll will be longitudinally reciprocated, and consequently,

through the link 10, the grate bars 5 will be rocked upon their axialshafts 6, causing the fingers 7 and 8 to be alternately 'raised and lowered out of the normal horizontal plane of the top of the grate bars. This construction is old, and is not in itself a part of my invention. I prefer to use it in addition to my power driven apparatus since it is de- Any section.

sirable to have alwaysavailable means for hand operation of the shaker.

For the purpose of rocking the grate bars 5 by power, I provide a rotary fluid-pressure driven motor, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, and more in detail in Figs. 3 and 4.. This comprises a cylinder 20 having a central axial shaft 21, upon which is keyed a sleeve 22, carrying a vane 23, which extends outward from the sleeve 22 to the inner wall of the cylinder 20, and which carries in its outer edges packing members 24, designed to provide a fluid-tight contact between the vane and the cylinder walls. Near the top of the cylinder, on its interior wall, there is a radially extending wedge-shaped partition 26 The inner edge of the partition 26 carries a packing member 27 which makes fluid-tight contact with the sleeve 22, so preventing escape of fluid pressure therebetween. This partition also furnishes a fixed stop forthe oscillatory vane 23, and positively limits its travel in either direction.

At one end of the cylinder 20 a valve casing'30 is provided. This has two passages'3'1 and'32 leading int'othe cylinder 20,

on the left and right side respectively of the partitioning member 26. A valve member 35' is adapted to slide in the chamber 36 formed within the casing 30. This valve has a piston head member 37 at one end and a similar piston head member 38 at the other, with a body portion 39 between, which is cut away so as to leave a passage 40 entirely around the valve body between the two piston heads 37 and 38. A shoulder 41 is provided on'the interior of the bore of the valve casing, so as to limit the forward travel of the valve member to the position shown in dotted lines, at the right of Fig. 5. The other end of the valve casing is closed by a removable head 42 which car ries an inwardly extending flange 43, forming a similar limiting shoulder to prevent rearward movement of the valve beyond the position in which it is illustrated in Fig. 5. Exhaust ports 45 and 46 are provided extending into thevalve chamber 36, at each end, beyond the limits of travel of the valve member in the chamber. An inlet ort 47 is connected to a fluid pressure supp y pipe 48, controlled by a. globe valve 49. The slidable valve -member 39 is attached to a stem or connecting rod 50 which has a handle, or loop, 51 at its free end.

When the valve 49is open and fluid pressure is supplied through pipe 48, by pulling the sliding valve 39 to the position illustrated in Fig. 5, pressure will be admitted through port 47, will pass around the valve body 39, through the passage 31, and into the cylinder 20, on the left side of the partition 26 but on theright side'of the oscillatory vane 99 This will drive that vane counter-clockwise until it turns around to the position shown in dotted lines at the right of Fig. 3. Its further travel will be positively limited by abutment against the partitioning member 26. Then the valve 39 may be shoved forward into the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 5. This will leave the passage 31 free to exhaust fluid pressure from the cylinder 20 through the exhaust port 16, and at the same time steam from the supply pipe 18 will pass through passage 32 into the main cylinder, on the right side of partition 26 but on the left side of the oscillatory vane 23, which will be driven clockwise until it returns to the position shown in full lines in Fig. 3.

The construction just above described is that of an ordinary oscillatory engine, and a standard reversing valve controlling mechanism for it, and does not itself constitute .my invention. The motor and its valve arrangement are merely elements going to make up the combination.

The shaft 21 upon which the oscillatory vane 23 is keyed extends through the end walls of the cylinder 20, and has suitable bearings at each end. Keyed on its end it carries a large gear 60, which meshes with a smaller gear 61, which is mounted upon a shaft 62, carried by the locomotive frame. Attached to the gear 61 is an arm 63. The outer end of this arm has a flattened head portion 6 1, through which are provided a plurality of holes 65, each adapted to receive a connecting pin 66, adapted to retain the flattened end 67 of a connecting link 68, the other end of which is pivotally connected to a sleeve member 70, slidably mounted upon an extension 71 from a sleeve member 7 5 which is keyed on the end of shaft 14, above described. The sleeve member has a rearward extension 7 2 through which extends a threaded screw member 73, which is rotatably mounted in a rearward extension 7 L from the member above described. The upper portion of the screw 73 carries a laterally extending handle portion 76, by which the screw may be rotated, in order to raise or lower the sleeve 70 on its shaft 71.

By this mechanism, when the vane of the oscillatory motor is turned through its half cycle, the gear 61 which is slightly smaller than the gear 60, will be turned through a complete revolution. Consequently the link 68 will have been moved through two complete reciprocations, that is, back and forward, and forward and back, at each revolution of gear 61. The order of these movements of course depends upon the direction of movement of gear 60-, which is driven alternately in opposite directions. The link 68 and arm 71 are connected through member 75 to the shaft 14, and consequently at each complete movement of the vane 23 the shaft 14 will be rocked in each direction, and when the lever member 13 is attached to the shaft as below described the links 11 and 10 will be given a forward movement, a return to original position, a backward movement and a return to original position at each half-cycle of the motor. That is to say the grate bars will be tilted backward, then restored to horizontal, then tilted forward and again restored to horizontal at each actuation of the oscillatory motor. Having turned pressure into the supply pipe 48, it is only necessary for the fireman to pull the valve control stem 51 backward, whereupon the grates controlled by the link 10 will be put through a complete rocking movement in both directions and returned to horizontal position. By shoving the valve stem forward the movement will be repeated, and so on. After each movement of the valve stem the operator will of course allow sufficient time for the completion of the movement, and thereafter by reversing the valve stem movement he repeats the rocking of the grate, and so on as many times as desired, without any manual labor other than reversal of the valve.

It will be understood that in the ordinarv locomotive the grate bars are built in several sections. That is to say a number of grate bars are mounted end to end, with intermediate bearings, in order to form the grate entirely across the locomotive fire box. In the drawings herewith there is illustrated a locomotive having four sets of grate bars. These may be shaken independently, or in any combination, or all together, by the mechanism provided and now to be described.

In Fig. 1, one set of grate bars, and the driving connections therefor are illustrated. The lever member 13 and its connecting rods 11 and 10 are repeated for each of the sets of grate bars provided. For example, in Fig. 2, the mechanism for controlling four sets of grate bars is indicated. The mechanism of F 1 is shown at the left of Fig. 2.

The shaft 14 is mounted in suitable bearings and 81, and does not extend beyond the latter bearing. The lever member 13 is mounted upon the shaft 14 with a bearing portion 77, and is normally free on the shaft. Likewise the similar lever member 13 is mounted by a bearing 7 7 on the shaft 14, and is normally free on that shaft. This lever member has an extension 12 pivotally attached to a driving link 11, which in turn is connected to a link similar to that marked 10 in Fig. 1, which is attached to a second section of grate bars. Movement back and forward of the lever member 13 actuatesthe second section grates, exactly as above described, for the first section, as will be readily understood.

Between the bearings 77 and 77 there is mounted a sleeve member which. is rigidly attached to the shaft 14 by means of a key 86. On the upper side of the member 85 there is an integral extension 87, thetop of which has a longitudinal groove or channel extending there-across; Pivotally' mounted in slots through thebodies of the lever members 13 and 13 are trip dogs having external ends 88 and 88 lying on the outer sides of the two levers. "The other ends of the dogs, 89 and 89, he on the innersides of the levers, and are adapted to fall into and be engaged'by the transversechannel or groove 90 acrossthe top of the extension 87, above referred to. Y f v These dogs are made'so that they will be held by gravity in either the raised position indicated by the dotted lines at the left of Fig. 2, or in the lower position as indicated 7 at the right of that figure. lVhen in the is driven."

lower position they lock the 'levers to the member 85 which is fixed on the shaft 1 1.

As will be seen at the left of Fig. 2 when the handles are manually operated and the shaker handle 17 is placed in position, the,

lower end thereof will strike and push down the outer body portion 88 of the trip dog, thus releasing the inner end 89 from the slot 90, and leaving the lever member 13 free to be independently operated by hand, since it will then turn freely on the shaft 1%. However, when the handle 17 is removed, the fireman can by simply shoving the inner end 89 of the dogdown into position, lock the lever to the sleeve 85, so that it can only be moved in connection with rotation of the shaft 1 1. By this means the two operating levels 13 and 13 may be individually locked to or released from the shaft or may be locked together to the shaft, so that they will operate in unison, and only'when theshaft At the right of Fig. 2 an arrangement is shown which is exactly similar in all respects to the mechanism which has been described in' detail and illustrated at the left of Fig. 2,'except that the rotary engine is not repeated, the driven shaft 62 extending entirely across,'and driving the grate shaking mechanism on both sides.

A separate shaft 1 1 ismounted in bearings 80 and 81 corresponding'to the bearings 80 and 81 of shaft 14 on the left. Lever inembers 13 and 13 correspond respectively to members 13 and 13 These are mounted on bearing members 77 and 77,

respectively. Trip dogs for'lockingthe le- ' vers 13 and 13 are provided. These have external ends 88 88 89 and 8 9 corresponding respectively to the elements 88, 88, 8'9, and 89, above described at the left of the figure. These dogs cooperate with a groove 90 in thesleeve member 85 which is fastened by a key 86 to a shaft 1 11 The levers 13 and 13 have lower extensions 12 and 12 respectively.

'By the construction illustrated and described obviously the fireman can connect any section of his grate bars to the driven shafts 14 and 141*, by means of the trip dog arrangementabove described. Consequently he can, through the oscillatory motor drive any section of the grate bars by itself, or any two, or any. three, or all four." Likewise, he can operate any section independently by hand, just as'has heretofore been done. l

By means of the adjusting screw/73, the point of connection of the link (38 on the arm 71 may be moved to any desired distance from the shaft 14:, in order to lengthen or shorten the stroke of the grate shaking members. A further adjustment is provided by means of the holes inthe driving arm 63. By use of the two together a very fine adjustment may be made, to tilt the bars to any desired angle, and to adjust a standard shaker to different forms and sizes of locomotives. p

In Fig. 6 I have illustrated driving means for the gear 61 comprising an ordi" nary cylinder and reciprocating piston rack 90, which is adapted to give the gear 61 a complete revolution at each stroke of the piston. This wouldresult in bringing the grate bars back to horizontal position after having rockedthem in both directions. It will be understood that suitable connections, similar to those above described would be provided from the driving arm 63 with this construction.

7 For purposes of cleaning the firebox at the round house it is desirable to be able to tilt the grate bars on edge and hold them there while cinders are raked out between them. Since the mechanism above described is especially designed to bring the bars to rest in horizontal position, in order to stop them in tilted position I provide two ports 100 and 101 which may be controlled by hand valves 102 and 103, in the ends-of the cylinder 20, or may have pipes running to any desired point as-for example to the cab of a locomotive so that the fireman may control the ports 100 and 101 from the cab. I may provide a series of such valves around the cylinder so as to be able to stop the power stroke at any desired point in its cycle of normal movement. When either of the valves 102 or103 opened it will release fluid pressure behind the vane 23, and therefore that member will stop as soon as itpasses the open. valve. This is in the tilted position of the grates, and leaves them in proper position for cleaning the firebox; i a

It will be understood that a number of modifications of mechanical details in the driving and control mechanisms may be made without changing the function of the combination. For example an electric motor with knockout switches might be substituted for the rotary fluid driven motor here shown.

I claim:

1. A grate shaker for locomotives, comprising a series of rockably mounted grate bars normally maintained at rest with their upper surfaces in the same plane, a power driving mechanism connected to the grate bars and arranged to tilt them first on one side and then on the other, and a positive 'predetermined halfcycle in one direction and then in reverse direction through an equal half-cycle, a positive stop member limiting travel of the driving mechanism at the end of each half-cycle movement thereof, whereby ateach actuation of the driving mechanism the grate bars are rocked and restored to normal position.

3. A. grate shaker for locomotives comprising a series of rockably mounted grate bars normally maintained rest with their upper surfaces lying in a common plane, a power driving mechanism connected to the grate bars and adapted to move through a predetermined half-cycle in one direction and then in reverse direction through an equal half-cycle, manual control means c011- nected to the driving mechanism for putting it in motion after completion of each halfcycle, apositive stop member limiting travel of the driving mechanism at the end of each movement thereof, whereby at each actuation of the driving mechanism the grate bars are rocked and restored to normal position.

at. A grate shaker for locomotives, comrising aseries of rockably mounted grate ars normally maintained at rest with their upper surfaces in a common plane, a power driving mechanism connected to the grate bars and adapted to rock them, and a positive stop member limiting movement of the driving mechanism to a predetermined halfcycle movement in one direction and a halfcycle reverse movement, said stop being so positioned that the grate bars are restored to normal position at the end of each complete half-cycle movement of the driving mechanism.

5. A grate shaker for locomotives, comprising a series of rockably mounted grate bars normally maintained at rest with their upper surfaces in a common plane, apower driving mechanism connected to the grate bars and adapted to rock them, said mechanism being arranged to move through a halfcycle in one direction and then a half-cycle in reverse direction, manual control means connected to the driving mechanism and adapted to set it in motion at the beginning of each half-cycle movement thereof, and a positive stop member limiting movement of the driving mechanism in the two predetermined half-cycles in opposite directions, said stop being so positioned that the grate bars are restored to normal position at the end of each complete half-cycle movement of the driving mechanism.

6. A grate shaker for locomotive-s, comprising a series of rockably mounted grate bars normally maintained at rest with their upper surfaces in the same plane, a power driving mechanism connected to the grate bars and arranged to tilt them first on one side and then on the other, and a positive stop member limiting the driving mechanism to a predetermined movement at each actuation, said movement being of such extent as to restore the grate bars to rest in their normal common plane at the end of the movement.

7. In a locomotive grate shaker wherein a fluid pressure driven member is adapted to rock the grates and then restore them to normal level position at each complete movement of the driven member, the combination with a fluid pressure chamber having the driven member therein of manually controllable valves governing ports in the chamber wall, whereby to permit escape of pressure from the chamber at predetermined positions of the driven member to stop the driven member in position to leave the grate bars in tilted position.

In testimony whereof, I sign my name.

NATHAN M. LOWER.

Witnesses B. GRAYSE BATEMAN, NINA M. BRANDT.

Images