US1633693A - Cupola-charging car - Google Patents

Description

June 1927 J. K. CLUTTS CUPOLA CHARGING CAR Filed Sept. 2l,- 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Home! Ju 1927- J. K. cLuTTs CUPOLA CHARGING CAR Filed Sept. 21. 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 75.92 v Ciutts nvamifo'r/ Patented June 28, 1927.

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F F lCE JOSHUA K. OLUTTS, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

CUPOLA-CHARGING CAR.

Application filed September 21, 1925. Serial No. 57,586.

contents thereof within the -upolr..

Another object is to provide means under a control remote from the said receotztcle for controlling the direction of its discharge within the cupola, so as to effect a proper il.'-,il'll)1lll)11 of the charge within the latter.

Still another object to mount. i-iaid receptncle and its various controls upon it suitable wci liing frame. and to mount the latter upon a suitable carrying frame, Uri-{terribly wheeled.

A. further object is to provide such a coir tizol mechanism for the discharge from the said receptacle as will permit a ready regulation of the rate of discharge therefrom.

3 These and various other objects the invention uttains by the con :rucaion hereinafter described and illustrated in the accompanyin; drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is 11, plan ier; of a charging car .einbodyine' the inventive features.

mg. :2 is a view of the same in side elevation a fragmei itary portion or a cupola be ng sect ally shown, and the charge receptacle carried by the car being; shown introduced :25 into said rupola.

l igure 3 is a longitudinal vertical sectional View of the invention, the plane of section being indicated at 3 3 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a cross sectional View of the changing receptacle and its mounting, taken upon the line 44 of Fig. 3.

In these views, the reference character 1 rates a substantially rectangular holler; frame suitably mounted upon front and rear pairs of wheels 2. lVithin its central o -iening, said frame carries a weighing scale, which may be of ordinary construction. As shown. this scale comprisesa pair of levers 3. extended lengthwise of the frame 1 and pivot-ed upon the latter at remote points 4, said levers being pivoiallyconnected as indicated at Suitably located pivot been ings upon said levers cerrya weighing frame comprising a pair of elongated spaced sills end suitable cross members 7 connecting said The forward portions of the sills 6 project some distance beyond the frame 1 and form a mounting for a rotatable cylindrical receptacle 8 for the cupola charge. This mounting is established preferably by exteriorly providing upon said receptacle two vertically spaced supporting rings 9, which, as shown, are of angle bar cross section and which rest upon sets of rollers 10 radially journaled in upper and lower channelshaped rings 11, the former seating directly upon the sills 6 and the latter being carried by a subl'rame 12 depending from said sills.

The bottom of the receptacle 8 is formed by a pair of downwardly opening doors 13, copivotally mounted upon a rod 13 diametrically carried by the lower end of the receptacle. Preferably the bottom edge of the receptucle inclines slightly upwardly at each side of said rod, so that the closures 13, when seating against said edge, are correspondingily inclined.

The mechanism for controlling the closures 13 comprises two duplicate pairs of links 1 1, the remote ends of said links being pivoted to said closures equidistantly from the rod 13 and the links of each pair converging downwardly from the doors to pivotully engage a rod 15, adapted to actuate said links to close or open the closures 13, according as said rod is raised or lowered. Midway of its length, said rod is engaged by a. chain 16 which extends vertically upward through the receptacle 8 in proximity to a partition 17 diametrically secured Within the receptacle and extending at its lower edge in close proximity to said rod. Above said receptacle, the chain 16 is carried over a guide pulley 18 attached to a frame 19 mounted upon the scale sills 6 and forming an arch above said receptacle. From said pulley, the chain extends rearwarclyto a drum 20 upon which its rear end portion wound and by rotation of which the closures 13 may be raised or lowered. Said drum is journaled in pair of suitable uprights 21 mounted .upon the scale frame, and e semi-circular brake band 22 provided with esuitablc control lever 23 is engageable with said drum under regulable pressure to hold the doors either fully closed or partially opened,

it) v i and topermit any desired reterdation of the opening movement of the doors. A provision foretlfecting such rotat on of the drum 20 as will close the doors will presently be .i'ieicribe till ill

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For actuating the receptacle 8 rotatively, a chain 24 makes a number of turns about the upper portion of said receptacle and is extended rearwardly from opposite sides of the receptacle, the end portions or said chain being reversely wound upon a drum 25 journaled in pair of uprights 26 spaced upon the rear portion or the scale frame. Accordingly as said drum is driven in one direction or the other, he receptacle 8 is rotated in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction.

For driving'the described car and also (if desired) for actuating the drums 20 and 25, there is carried by the rear portion of the frame 1, within the central opening thereof, an electric motor 27 which may be geared as indicated at 28 to the rear axle of the car, and which may have driving connections 29 and 30 to the drums 20 and respectively.

31 designates a step mounted upon the rear end of the frame 1 for use or the operator and 32 is a weight attached to the rear end oi the scale frame to coimterbalance the receptacle 8 and its contents. A gauge 33 ugon which the scale indications may be read surmounts a post 34 rising from the frame 1, and an actuating connection from one of the scale levers 3 to the needle of said gauge is indicated at The opening movement of the closures 13 is limited by suitable yieldable stop members secured to the under faces of said closures near their outer edges, said step members abutting when the doors are fully open and maintaining a suflicient angularity in the relation of the links 14 to insure their proper response to an upward pull exerted upon the chain 16.

In the operation of the described invention, a charge or materials to be delivered to the cupola is first introduced by any suitable means into the receptacle 8. Ordinarily said materials will be mainly metallic, but the delivery of fuel. to the cuopla can also be efficiently accomplished through use of said receptacle. hen the receptacle has been sufiiciently loaded, the weight of its contents may be immediately obtained by consulting the gauge 83. The charging car is now driven from the point of loading to the cupola 87 (see Fig. 2) and after the charging opening 38 of the cupola has been uncovered, the charging car is driven forward, in registration with said opening so as to carry the receptacle 8 through said opening and into the cupola. The operator now establishes a drive connection to the drum 25 (if desired) whereby said drum acts through the chain 24 to rotatively shift the receptacle 8 so far as may be necessary to establish the desired direction for delivery of the charge from said receptacle. It is to be understood that, unless the closures 13 are allowed to drop quite abruptly, said closures will exert a tendency to deflect the discharging materials toward the cupola wall in a direction substantially transverse to the pivotal axis of said closures, so that the operator by selecting a desired diametrical relation of said axis to the cupola wall can predetermine the subsequent direction of discharge. Thus for example, it at the moment of discharge, the pivot rod 13 of the receptacle is disposed lengthwise of the car, the direction of the discharge when the doors 13 are opened gradually will be primarily toward the sides of the cupola, whereas, it the pivotal axis of the closures is transverse to the cupola sides atthe moment of discharge, the materials will be deposited primarily adjacent to the front and rear walls of the cupola. If it is desired to distribute the charge in a substantially uniiorm manner within the cupola, the doors may be allowed to fall abruptly to their open positions, so that the charge may drop sub. ;antially vertically, without being subjected to deflection by the doors. The open ing travel of the closures is accomplished by the weight of the load resting upon said closures, and such travel occurs as soon as the operator relieves pressure of the brake 22 upon the drum 20. According as this pressure is relieved, to a greater or less degree, the opening travel or the closures 13 will be fast or slow. As soon as the receptacle has been emptied, the operator applies power to the drum 20 so as to wind the chain 16 upon said drum and thus move the closures 13 to their closed positions. Finally the charging car is driven back sufficiently to withdraw the receptacle 8 from the cupola and the charging opening 38 of the latter is again uncovered.

As compared to the present practice of manually throwing or shoveling the charge into a cupola, use of the described car accomplishes a great advance in efticiency. For every cupola, such a car eliminates necessity for several workmen (known chargers), and permits the one man in charge of said car to accomplish the charging operation in much shorter length of time, with much less discomfort due to heat, and without the severe physical exertion required by manual charging. Furthermore use of said car permits distribution of the charge within the cupola to be much more accurately controlled than is possible under conditions of manual charging, since radiation of heat through the charging opening will not permit workmen to approach said opening closely enough to permit of their throwing the charging material manually to any desired interior point. Heat radiation through the charging opening will not subject the operator of the described car to appreciable discomfort, first since such radiation is largely blocked by the presence of the charging receptacle in the cupola, second, because the operator is stationed upon the rear end llS of the car and is therefore some distance from the charging opening, and third, because the period of charging is comparatively short.

Owing to the mounting of the charging receptacle upon a Weighing scale carried by the described car, the accurate total weight of the charge is immediately obtainable as soon as said charge has been loaded into the receptacle. The advantage of this over the practice now commonly followed of transporting the charge to the cupola in wheel barrows and separately weighing each wheel barrow load will be readily evident.

By providing a partition in the charging receptacle directly above the door axis, the charge is prevented from clogging the doors in their pivotal movement.

\Vhat I claim is:

1. In combination, a receptacle having an outlet at its lower end, a pair of downwardly opening pivotal closures controlling said outlet, and a pair of toggle links connecting said closures and establishing a common con trol thereof, and positioned beneath said reccptacle.

2. In combination, a receptacle having an outlet at its lower end, a pair of downwardly opening, substantially cop'ivota'l doors controlling said closures, a connection between said closures beneath the same for actuating the two closures in common, and control means for said connection upwardly extended through the receptacle.

3. In combination, a receptacle having an outlet at its lower end, a pair of downwardly opening, substantially copivotal closures for said outlet, a pair of links beneath said do sures pivoted t-ern'iinally to each other and having their other ends pivoted. respectively to said closures, and means connected to said links for effecting a common control of said closures.

In combination, a receptacle having an outlet at its lower end, a pair of downwardly opening, substantiallv copivotal closures for said outlet, a pair of links beneath said closures having remote ends pivoted to the closures and having their other ends pivotally connected, and converging downwardly from the closures to their pivotal connected ends, and an actuating element for said links upwardly extended through said receptacle.

In combination, a receptacle having an outlet at its lower end, a pair of downwardly opening substantially copivotal closures for said outlet, a pair of links beneath said closures having remote ends pivoted to the closures and having their other ends pivotally connected, means for actuating said links to control the closures, and means limiting the approach of the closures to each other in their opened positions, whereby a minimum angularity of the links is predetermined.

6. In combination, a receptacle having an outlet at its lower 'end, a downwardly opening pivotal closure for said outlet, means for controlling said closure from a point remote from the receptacle, including a provision for regulating the velocity of the opening movement of the closure.

7. In combination, a receptacle having an outlet at its lower end, a closure for said out lct,'a flexible control element for said closure upwardly extended through said receptacle, a drum remote from the receptacle upon which a portion of said control element is wound, and a brake acting upon said drum.

'8. In combination, a frame, a receptacle mounted upon one end of said frame and having an outlet at its lower end, a closure for said outlet, a control element for said closure extended to the other end of said frame, and means upon the last mentioned end of said frame coacting with said control element to regulate the velocity of opening of said closure.

9. In combination, a wheeled carrying frame, a weighing frame mounted upon the carrying frame and projecting at one end beyond the carrying frame, a receptacle tcrminally retained upon the projecting portion of the weighing frame for carrying and discharging material, means co-acting with the weighing frame for weighing the contents of said receptacle, andmeans independent of said weighing means carried by the other end portion of the weighing frame for counter-balancing said receptacle and its contents.

10. In combination, a carrying frame, a weighing frame mounted upon the carrying frame and projecting at one end beyond the carrying frame, a receptacle carried by said projecting portion of the weighing frame having an outlet at its lower end, and means carried by said weighing frame for independently controlling the velocity and the direction of the discharge from said outlet.

ii. in combination, a receptacle, a pair of downwardly opening closures forming the lottom of said receptacle, pivoted SLlbSttHb tizil'lv coaxially and in a substai'itially diaiiictrical relation to said receptacle, and a partition wall arranged within said receptacle having its lower edge extended into close proximity to the axis of said closures.

12. In combination, a pair of co-pivotal, normally substantially horizontal members for supporting material, a connection between said members beneath the same for actuating said members upwardly or downwardly in common, and a control means for said members, upwardly extended between said members.

13. In combination, a pair of normally substantially horizontal co-pivotal members for supporting and discharging material, a pair of links beneath said members having remote ends pivoted to said members, and

having their other ends pivotally connected, means for actuating said links to control said members, and means limiting the approach of said members to each other in their lowered positions whereby a minimum angularity of the links is predetermined.

14. In combination, a carrying frame, a weighing frame mounted upon the carrying frame, and projecting at one end beyond the carrying frame, a normally horizontal pivotal support for materials carried by the projecting end portion of the weighing frame downwardly movable to discharge said materials, and means carried by one of said frames for independently controlling the velocity and the direction of the discharge of materials.

15. In combination, a pair of normally horizontal copivotal members for supporting and discharging material, a common means for pivotally raising and lowering said members, and means carried by said member for yieldably limiting their approach to each other when lowered.

16. In combination, a pair of co-pivotal members normally positioned substantially horizontally'for supporting materials and pivotally movable downwardly for discharging said materials, a pair of links beneath said members pivoted terminally to each other and having their other ends pivoted respectively to said members, and means connecting the said links for effecting a common control of said members.

17. In combination, a pair of substantially co-pivotal members normally positioned sub stantially horizontally for supporting material, and pivotally movable downwardly for discharging such material, a pair of links beneath said members having their remote ends pivoted to said members, and having their other ends pivotally connected and converging downwardly from the closures to their connected ends, and an actuating element for said links upwardly extended between said members.

18. In combination, a vehicular carrying frame, a weighing frame mounted upon the carrying frame, and projecting at one end beyond the carrying frame in its direction of vehicular travel. a support for materials upon said projecting end portion of the weighing frame, means upon the body portion of one of said frames controlling the discharge of materials from said support, and means carried by the weighing frame at its end remote from the material support, for counterbalancing said support and its contents.

19. In combination, a frame, means for portably supporting said frame, said frame having an end portion forming a substantially rigid part of said frame projecting beyond said supporting means, a normally substantially horizontal member pivoted upon the projecting end portion of said frame for carrying material, and means upon the main body portion of said frame for pivotally lowering said member to discharge its load therefrom, and guide means for the last-named means upon said projecting end portion.

iii). In combination, a frame, means for portably supporting said frame, said frame having an end portion projecting beyond said supporting means, a pair of normally substantially horizontal members mounteu upon the projecting end portion of said frame, and jointly forming a support for material, movable to discharge said material, and means carried upon the body portion of said frame for actuating said members in common to discharge their load.

ii. In combination, a frame, means for portably supporting said frame, said frame having an end portion projecting beyond said supporting means, a member mounted upon the projecting end portion of said frame, rotatable about a substantially vertical axis, a normally substantially horizonial support for material, pivoted upon said rotatable member, and downwardly pivotally movableto discharge its load,means carried by the body portion of said frame for rotatably actuating said rotatable member, and means carried by the body portion of said frame for controlling the discharge of material from said support.

22. In combination, a frame, means for port-ably supporting said frame, said frame having an end portion projecting beyond said supporting means, a receptacle rotatably mounted upon the projecting end portion of said frame, and having a provision for the discharge of its contents, means carried by the main body portion of said frame controlling the discharge of materials from said receptacle and a cable having a portion en'ibracing said receptacle and having end portions extending to the main body of said frame, and alternatively actuable to rotate the receptacle in either direction.

23. In combination, a vehicular carrying frame, means carried by said frame for effecting its vehicular travel, a weighing frame mounted upon the carrying frame and projecting at one end beyond the carrying frame in its direction of vehicular travel, a support for materials upon said projecting portion of the weighing frame, and means upon the body portion of one of said frames controlling the discharge of material from said support.

24. In combination, a carrying frame, a weighing frame, mounted upon the carrying frame, and having an end portion projecting beyond said carrying frame, a pair of normally substantially horizontal members pivoted upon the projecting portion of the weighing frame, and forming a support for materials, and pivotally downwardly movable to discharge and means upon the body portion of one of said frames controlling the discharge of materials from said support.

In eombiimtion a carrying frame, a wei hing frame, mounted upon the earn frame, and having an end portion pro ecting beyond the carrying frame a normally substantially horizontal support for materials pivotally mounted upon said projec ing portion of the Weighing frame for carrying materials and downwardly pivotally movable to discharge its load said support being mounted for rotation about a substantial: vertical axis, means upon the body port on of one of said frames for controlling rais'ng and lowering of said support, and i-pon the body portion of one of said 'trarnes tor rotatively actuating said support to control the direction of discharge of its load.

ln testimony whereof I sign this specification.

JOSHUA K. CLUTTS.

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