US1577407A - Furnace - Google Patents

Description

3 Sheets-Sheet L V M KAY I FURNACE Original Filed August 30 March 16 1926.

March 16 1926. 1,577,407

v. M GKAY FURNACE Original Filed August 3O 1915 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 March 16 V. M KAY FURNACE 1915 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Original Filed August 30,

r Izwerafior Patented Mar. 16 1926.

UNITED STATES 1,577,407 PATENT OFFICE.

. VASIL MACKA Y, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO N EEMES FOUNDRY, INC.,

0F TROY, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

FURNACE.

Application filed August 30, 1915, Serial No. 47,947. Renewed May 26, 1923.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VASIL MACKAY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Furnaces, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in furnaces and more particularly to furnaces constructed and arranged to automatically feed fuel lengthwise of the grate thereof and to maintain the fuel thereon in a layer of substantially uniform depth throughout.

The object of the invention is to provide simple operating means therefor whereby the several sections of the grate may be positively operated both forwardly and rearwardly by mechanically operable means, or said grate sections may be manually operated as stated.

Another object of the invention is to provide improved means for breaking up the clinkers which may form upon said grate and in dumping the clinkers and ashes therefrom.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a grate which permits the burning of coke breeze or screenings without causing clinkers to form upon said grate and choke the same and at the same time said grate is constructed and arranged to consume substantially all of the heat units in the fuel before the same are allowed to escape from the furnace.

Again the object of the invention is to provide means for facilitating the cleaning of the portion of the furnace at the rear of the bridge wall and in removing the cleanings therefrom.

Another object of the invention is to pro vide an inexpensive durable lining for the front wall of the furnace.

The invention consists in the combination and arrangement of parts set forth in the following specification and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a furnace embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section, partly in elevation, of the furnace, portions of said furnace being broken away to save space in the drawings.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the grate.

Fig. 4 is a detail view of the clutch whereby the mechanical or manual instrumentalithe grate being removed to save space in the drawings.

Fig. 8 is a detail sectional view of the front wall of the furnace illustrating the means for protecting the outer or front plate of the boiler from the heat within.

Fig. 9 is a detail side elevation of a modified form of side member for the grate sections. I

Like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

In the drawings, 10 is a boiler, 11 the combustion chamber and 12 the ash pit of a furnace embodying my invention. Within said combustion chamber 11 is located a grate 13 preferably formed in two sections 14 and 15, each of said sections of grate consisting of a plurality of pivoted grate bars each arranged to swing about a horizontal axis extending transversely of said furnace. Said axis is arranged parallel with and adjacent to the rear edge of the grate bar. The fuel supporting surface of the grate is made up of the inclined series of oscillatory grate sections 14 and 15, said series sloping .downwardly at a certain predetermined angle from the front toward the rear of the furnace, that is to say, from the dead plate at the front of the furnace to the bridge wall 21, as clearly shown in Figure 2 of the drawings.

The several grate bars which constitute said grate are substantially in the form of sectors in cross section and arranged to swing about the axes thereof consisting of trunnions 17 arranged at opposite ends of said bars. The trunnions 17 are pivotally arranged in sockets 18 formed in the side members 19 of the grate frame, said side members extending from the front 20 of said furnace substantially to the bridge wall 21 thereof, or at least to a support 22 extending forwardly from said bridge wall. The forward edges 23 0f the grate bars 16 are formed substantially concentric with the axis of said bars.

The upper faces 24 of the grate bars 16 are preferably flat and are adapted to align, when in their lowermost positions, with the upper faces of the side members 19 of said grate. Plates 25 are arranged lengthwise of the side members 19 over said trunnions 17 for the purpose of retaining said trunnions within their respective sockets and to prevent ashes and fuel from working into the same. Slots 26 extend from the upper faces 24 of said grate bars downwardly entirely through said gratebars and constitute draft slots, the number and size of which may be varied according to the grade of fuel to be used and the amount of draft provided. The rear sides 27 of the grate bars 16 are curved substantially following an arc whose center coincides with the axis of the grate bar, permitting said bars to be swung about their axes without interfering or contacting with the curved faces of the adjacent grate bar of the series.

The several grate bars which constitute said grate are arranged in sets preferably for best results with the first, third, fifth and seventh grate bars being connected to gether as one set and the bars alternating with the ones mentioned constituting the other set, the same arrangement being carried out with a grate of greater or less length.- With this arrangement the first set of bars may be elevated while the second set remains fiat so that any fuel which may have been deposited upon the upper faces of said first set will be dumped upon the next bar in the series, then as said first set returns to its fiat position, the second set will be elevated and so pass the fuel along from one to the other the entire length of the grate. The further rising of the grates beyond the lower end of the apron is set and fixed at the pivoted point of the arm and link. The circumference and face of the pivoted rear ends of the trunnions are free to move without any interlocking.

Means are provided for operating the two sets of grate bars either mechanically or manually. With the mechanical instrumentalities a continuous feeding of the fuel from the forward end of the grate to the rear end thereof will be possible just as long as a supply of fuel is maintained at the forward end of said grate. The manual operable means for said grate bars are provided in case it is desirable to feed the fuel upon one section of the grate faster or slower than that of the other section in order to regulate the fire just the desired amount.

The instrumentalitiesfor operating said sets of grate bars consist of depending arms ent installations.

28 arranged slightly in front of the axes of the grate bars, the arms of said first set being connected together by a link 29, while the arms of the second set are connected together by a link 30, thus insuring a simultaneous movement of all of the bars of the same set. A rod 31 is operatively connected with each of the sets of grate bars, said rod 31 having a bifurcated end 32, the furcations 33 and 34 being arranged parallel with each other and having formed upon the inner opposite faces thereof a series of teeth 35 and 36 respectively. .The arms 28 are longer than the radius of the arc of the grate sections and their positions transversely of the grate may be changed to suit difler- These arms are set and connected in angular position in order to raise the grate high to feed the fuel satisfactorily.

A shaft 37 is journaled to rotate in bearings formed at the sides of said. furnace,

said shaft extending transversely of said furnace between the furcations 33 and 34 of said rods. A mutilated gear 38 is mounted upon said shaft. The teeth of said gear are ada ted to alternately engage the two series of teeth 35 and 36 whereby said rods will be positively reciprocated in opposite directions to transmit motion to the grate bar operatively connected therewith. Each set of grate bars is operated in the same manner, but at different times, as hercinbefore stated, the gear which operates one set being preferably positioned with respect to the gear which operates the other set of grate bars so-that when said first set is moving upwardly the other set is moving downwardly to its lowermost position and vice versa.

The two sections 14 and 15 of the grate 13 are connected with their operating instrumentalities in such a way that one section thereof may be operated and the other remain stationary, or both may be operated simultaneously and from the same shaft. Furthermore the two series of grate bars which constitute each of said sets may be operated as above described, or either one or both of said series may be disconnected from the operating instrumentalities.

To accomplish this result the multilated gears 38, 38 for one section of the grate are independently rotatably mounted upon the shaft 37 between positioning collars 39 and upon the front wall 46 of the furnace and engages an annular groove 47 in each of the clutch members 41 and 41' whereby the teeth 42 of said clutch members may be thrown into and out of engagement with the teeth 43 of said gears. To operate the grate bar sets by hand, each of said rods 31 is provided with a hand lever 48 pivotally connected at 49 with the outer end of one of the furcations of said link, which furcation projects through the front wall 46 .of said furnace. The hand levers 48 are pivoted at 50 to lugs 51 formed upon the front wall 46 of said furnace. Stops 52 engage said hand levers for the purpose of limiting the rearward movements thereof to prevent the feeding sections of the grate from dumping the fire.

Each of the grate sections is provided at the rear of the oscillatory sets of grate bars, or in other words, the fuel feeding grate bars, with an independent set of grate bars 53, said set consisting preferably of two grate bars somewhat wider than the grate bars 16 and preferably pivotally arranged to swing about axes extending transversely of the furnace, but adjacent to the forward edges of said grate bars 53. These grate bars are pivotally mounted and constructed substantially in the same manner as are the bars 16 and provided with depending arms 54 which are connected together by a link 55. The two grate bars forming said set 53 extend from the last grate bar of the fuel feeding set to a shelf 56 mounted upon the bridge wall 21 at the rear of the fire pot of the furnace. These grate bars furthermore constitute means for breaking up clinkers which may have formed at the rear of the grate 13 and furthermore said last named grate bars are adapted to be operated to dump the cinders and ashes from the grate into the ash pit.

To accomplish these results said grate bars 53 are arranged to be rocked both upwardly and downwardly by means of a hand lever 57 pivoted at 58 to the front wall 46 of the furnace, see Fig. 7. The hand lever 57 is connected by means of a rod 59 which extends from said lever through an opening 60 in the front wall of said furnace to the link 55 to which said rod 59 is pivotally secured. A removable stop 61 mounted upon saidfront wall 46 is constructed and arranged to engage the hand lever 57 for the purpose of maintaining the upper face 62 of the dumping grate bars 53 in alignment with the upper faces of the supporting side members 19, said stop also preventing the accidental dumping of said grate.

The first grate bar 16 of the grate 13 is arranged in close proximity to the fuel opening 63 of the furnace so that as the fuel is fed into said opening it will be deposited upon said first grate bar. The feeding of said fuel is preferably accomplished through a hopper 64, which is' pivotally arran ed over the opening 63 in such a manner t at when it is desired to feed fuel by hand directly through said opening, said hopper may be swung outwardly relatively to said opening. A ate 65 is arranged to slide transversely 0 said hopper in close proximity to the opening 63 whereby the feeding of fuel from said hopper may be discontinued at any time or be increased or diminished. The top of the hopper 64 is cut off square at 66. a

Each of the grate sections 14 and 15 is provided with a fuel opening 63 and hopper 64, while above the hoppers 64 for said openings a fender 67 has been provided which is common to both of said hoppers and directs the fuel as it is shoveled from the floor of the boiler room into the mouths of said hoppers. The front of said fender is open to permit the fuel to be more easily deposited therein. The fender 67 is provided with a bottom 68 which extends across both of the hoppers 64 at the front of said furnace, said bottom being provided with openings 69 which align respectively with the mouths of said hoppers to permit the fuel to pass from said fender thereinto.

Each of the openings 69 is provided with a gate 70 which may be closed when it is desired to swing the hopper 64 outwardly from the openings 63, thus preventing the fuel which has been deposited in said fender from falling through the opening 69 to the floor at the front of the furnace.

Another feature of the invention, which has been heretofore referred to, resides in the construction of the front wall thereof and consists of an outer wall or front plate 71 having a lining 72 of fire resisting material formed in sections, as represented by the dotted lines Fig. 1. A layer of asbestos 73 is interposed between the front plate 71 and the sections of fireproof material 72 so as to insure the protection of said front plate from the fire around the joints of the sections of material 72. The fireproof material 72, asbestos 73 and the front plate 71 are all secured together by screws or bolts 74 which have shouldered ends 75 projecting through said front wall and secured thereto by nuts 76. The inner ends of said bolts 74 are provided with tapered heads 77 which engage the fire resisting material 72 and firmly hold the same in contact with the asbestos 73 and front plate 71.

Another important feature of this invention resides in the provision for supplying forced draft and consists in providing an air passage 78 preferably extending through the bridge wall 21 from beneath the grate l3 rearwardly through the rear wall 79 of the boiler setting. A blower 80 supplies air through a pipe 81 to the passage 78 and into the ash pit 12 toward the front end of the grate 13 from whence said air is forced upwardly through the slots 26 in the rate bars to the combustion chamber of the urnace.

The combination of the instrumentalities for supplying currents of air beneath the grate toward the front and through the slotted grate bars with a feeding grate, of the type shown, produces a construction whereby the cheapest kind of fuel may be burned without necessitating the repeated cleaning of the grate and prevents the for ing of clinkers above the feeding sections of the grate. The currents of air supplied beneath and toward the front of said furnace retain the grate bars comparatively cool, while the constant action of grate bars in feeding the fuel lengthwise of the grate absolutely prevents any formation of clinkers whereby said grate may be clogged or the efiiciency thereof reduced. Furthermore the constant action of the grate bars maintains the fuel in a somewhat loosened state whereby air from beneath may be forced therethrough at any point throughout the length of the grate, thus providing an exceptionally good draft. \Vith such the case the damper of the furnace, which is shown at 82, in the discharge pipe 83 need not be fully opened, or opened as wide as would be necessary without the forced draft. This would permit the supply of fuel, which has been admitted through the fuel opening 63 and deposited adjacent to the first section of the series of grate bars, to become thoroughly heated and thus liberate the gases therefrom, otherwise known as coking of the fuel, which gases will be entirely consumed as they are slowly conducted over the fire and through the escape flue 89 and discharge pipe of the furnace, due to the retarding thereof by the damper 82.

The blower receives its motion preferably from an engine 84 through a shaft 85 and gears 86, said engine 84 being also connected by gearing 87 to the shaft 37 whereby said shaft may be operated to in turn operate the several sets of grate bars. The air passage 78 in addition to having an opening into the ash pit 12 also has an opening 88 into the escape flue 89 of the boiler and at the rear of the bridge wall 21.

The walls of the boiler setting surround-.'

ing the opening 88 are tapered inwardly at 90, 90 so as to direct 'all cinders and dust, which are carried by the products of combustion, beyond the bridge wall and which fall before they reach the tubes of the boiler, to the opening 88. A gate 91 is slidably arranged at the bottom of the opening 88 and when desired said gate may be withdrawn and the cinders and soot which have collected thereabove permitted to drop into the passage 78 into a receptacle 92 mounted upon rollers 94 and arranged beneath said opening. The receptacle 92 is adapted to be withdrawn through the ash pit and out through the ash door 93, the floor of said ash pit and the bottom of the passage 7 8 being on a level with each other.

The general operation of the grate is as follows: Fuel is deposited in the fender 67 and permitted to pass through the openings at the bottoms thereof into the hoppers 64 and onto the grate sections within the furnace. tuting said grate are operated by means of the mutilated gears 38 and cooperating teeth 35 and 36 on the rods 31 which positively raise and lower the same, thus feeding the fuel from the fuel openings 63 to the inner end of the grate upon the dumping grate sections 53. The dumping grate sections 53 are operated at certain intervals of time or when necessary to break up the clinkers which form thereabove and to dump the same into the ash pit.

To break up the clinkers said grate sections 53 are swung upwardly about their pivots into the positions indicated at a by moving the hand lever 57 from the position shown in full lines, Fig. 7, to the position in dotted lines marked A and when said clinkers have been made small enough by the said action to pass between said grates. the stop 61 is removed and said hand lever moved to the position indicated at B, Fig. 7, permitting the grate bars to drop to the dotted positions 1). Vhen it is desired to operate the grate sections by hand the clutch levers '44 are rocked upon their pivots to disconnect the clutches 41 and 41 from their respective gears 38 after which the hand levers 48 may be operated at will to rock the grate bars 16. The operation of the stoker when manipulated by hand is as follows :-lVhen fuel is fed from the hopper or is shoveled to the first grate bars, by opening the door, the vertically extending operating levers 48 are manipulated, one by one, the fuel is fed from front to rear, the ashes fall into the ash pit, and the clinkers are carried to the rear of the stoker where they are dumped, into the ash pit, by dumping grate sections. On the top of the levers 48 may be placed a socket bar of any proportionate length in order to render a good leverage when manipulated by hand.

In the modified form of support for the several grate bars illustrated in Fig. 9 means are provided for adjusting the ends of the several grate bars relatively to each other, said means embodying in its construction bearing blocks 95 adapted to receive the trunnions 17 of said grate bars.

The bearing blocks 95 are each arranged in recesses 96 formed in the side member 97. Screws 98 are arranged at opposite sides of the bearing blocks and engage the sides 99 of the recesses 96 and as said screws are rotated, the bearing blocks containing the The alternate grate sections consti same will be moved. longitudinally of said side members Within said recesses. A clamping screw 100 having screwthreaded engagement with each bearing block and engaging a portion of said side member 97 is constructed and arranged to clamp the bearing block in the preferred location thereon after the same has been properly adjusted.

Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire by Letters Patent to secure is:

1. A furnace having, in combination, a series of feeding grate bars pivotally mounted on axes in proximity to one edge, a link operatively connected with said grate bars, said link having a bifurcated end, teeth upon the inner opposed edges of the furcations of said bifurcated end, a shaft rotatably arranged transversely of said furnace between the furcations of said link, and gears on said shaft intermediate of the furcations of each of said links, the teeth of said gears being constructed and arranged to alternately mesh with the teeth of said furcations to positively control the movement of the grate bars in both directions.

2. A furnace having, in combination, a series of feeding grate bars, means constructed and arranged to connect togetherv in separate sets alternate grate bars of said series, a link operatively connected with each of said sets, each of said links having b a bifurcated end, teeth formed upon the inner opposed edges of the furcations of said bifurcated end, a shaft rotatably arranged between the furcations of said links, mutilated gears on said shaft intermediate of the furcations of each of said links, the teeth of said gears being constructed and arranged to alternately engage the teeth of said furcations to move said links in opposite directions, and a clutch constructed and arranged to independently connect each of said gears with said shaft.

3. A furnace embodying plural series of fuel feeding grate bars having plane fuel supporting surfaces across which the fuel may be pushed, the bars of the plural series being alternated and pivotally supported on axes in proximity to one edge, whereby the upward movement of the bars of either series will push the fuel across the bars of the other series with stop devices for arresting the downward movement of the bars with their fuel supporting surfaces in substantially a single plane, and associated, mechanically and manually operated mechanism for rocking the respective series of bars upwardly embodying links connecting the bars of each series, duplicate levers pivotally mounted at the front of the furnace connecting rods jointedwith the levers at their forward ends and with the grate bars at their rear ends, opposed gear racks carried by the connecting rods, and clutch controlled gears adapted to be manually thrown into and out of mesh with the racks.

4. A furnace embodying plural series of fuel feeding grate bars mounted to swing upwardly on axes in proximity to their rear edges, the bars ofone series being alternated with the bars of the other series, means for operating the bars of each series upwardlyto feed the fuel onto the bars of the other series and toward the rear of the furnace in combination with means at the back of the furnace for arresting the rearward movement of the fuel, a grate bar section located forwardly of said fuel arresting means pivotally mounted on an axis in to one edge to swing downwardly or dumping the fuel, ashes and clinker fed thereon by the first mentioned grate bars, manual operating means for said last mentioned grate section, releasable locking means for holding said section against downward movement, due to the weight of material fed thereon and manually and mechanically operated mechanisms for actuating the grate ars.

5. The combination with alternate series of rocking feeding grate bars, of mechanically and manually operable coacting mechanisms for actuating the series of bars, embodying links connecting the bars of each series, duplicate levers pivotally supported forwardly of the bars, connecting rods joined with the levers at their forward ends and with the grate bars at their rear ends, opposed racks associated with the connecting rods, and clutch controlled rotatable gears adapted to be thrown into and out of mesh with the opposed racks.

6. The combination with alternate series of fuel feeding grate bars, of mechanically operated mechanism for actuating the series of bars, embodying links connecting the bars of each series, links connected with the first mentioned links, opposed toothed racks associated with the second mentioned links,

roximity rotatable gears for meshing engagement with the racks, and means for controlling the gears to render the same passive or my hand.

' VASIL MAOKAY.

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