US1747912A - Thawing apparatus - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 18, 1930. C, K, sTElNS 1,747,912

THAWING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 3; 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet l @mx-1n l I 'd W1 TNESSES A TTORNFVS' Feb. 18, 1930.

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rPatented Feb. 18,* y'1930 UNI-TED STATES PATENT OFFICE CARLETON K. STEINS, OF INDIANAIFOLIS, INDIANA THAWING APPARATUS Application filed November 3, 1928. Serial No. 317,092.

My invention, while relating generally to y thawing apparatus, has particular applicanumber of independentlyL heated compartments into which divisions of a train of freight cars'may be shunted'and confined for thawing, the heating lapparatus being located beneath thetracks so that hot air may rise directly to the car rcompartments with a minimum of heat loss.v This arrangement in addition to its advantage in economy of fuel consumption reduces the area ofthe thawing/plant and enables the use of conduits of i comparatively' short lengths forthe circulation of heated air.

` A further obj ect of my invention is to simplify the structure of the thawing plant by incorporating the hot air yducts in the foundationsfor ythe compartment partitions and thus minimize wasteful Adissipation of heat.

7 Still another andyimportant object of my invention is the provision of an arrangement which permits an eiiicient and handy system fory fueling the.' heating furnaces and carrying off the ashes therefrom. y c y Vhile I am aware/that thawing plants of various types in which heated air khas been fused. as the thawing medium have been the subject of lprior patents and arein present suse, myinvention is characterized by the novel arrangementand operation of thawing apparatus resultlng y1n marked Yadvantages including .more efficient and more uniform heating of the car compartments as will .be ,apparent from the drawings and the description vwhich follows, in which I have illus- Ytrated and described avpreferred embodiment of the invention and whereof Fig. I is a location plan showing the thawing plant yand, the ,various tracks leading -to it;

Fig. II risica track plan of the floor of the icar'thawing compartments; Y

. Fig. III isa plan view of the heater and 0 biewerroom g and,

' Fig. IX is a cross'section of an air heating furnace. y

Referring particularly tov Fig. I, I have shown the thawing plant comprehensively designated by the numeral 1 with a series of tracks 2 for shunting divisions of'a train of freight cars into the various compartments 8 of the thawing plant.k The track location plan also shows a2 coal car track 4, an vash car track 5 and a runaround track 6 which will be described more in detail hereinafter.

In Fig. II the track planof the thawing plant l shows the compartments 3 with longitudinal partitions 7 and doors 8 constructed of suitable insulating material so that each compartment may be independently heated. By virtue of the complete isolation of each compartment from neighboring compartments only a sufficient number of compartments need be heated as are required to house the number of cars the contents of which are to be thawed. The thawing medium preferably employed is hot air supplied at the bottom of the compartments 3 adjacent the rails of their respective tracks 2 by means of f kdle sections of the compartments 3`houses the heaters 1l which are conveniently arranged instaggered formation, there being one heater for each compartment. Adjacent each heater 11 there is shown a motor driven.

blower 13 is situated on the cold air side of the heater directly beneath a return air intake 10 and adapted. to regulate the .air flow through the heater. From the hot air delivery side of each heater trunks 14e-lead toV conduits 15 formed inthe foundations `16 which support the partitions 7 as may best be seen from F ig. V. The foundations'l are perforated at longitudinal intervals to provide tuyres 9 which furnish heated air to the compartments adjacenty the rails of the tracks 2. It will be kapparent from the v,description thus far that full advantage is taken of the naturaltendency ofhot air to rise, andthat the Vdirection of flow as indicated by the arrows is from the heaters directly upward through the trunks 14;, thence out'- ward through the conduits 15 along the length of each compartment and upward againthrough the tuyeres 9 from whence the hot air is distributed throughout each compartment. v

` One of the heaters 1 1 is illustrated iny detail inFig. IX.-"It comprises' a refractory fur'- nace 17 with a grate 18 above whichthere are a series of lines 19 which lead to a ccmmon air trunk 20. Thegases from the' 'furnace pass upwardthrough a stack 21 which is" situated within af partition or bulkhead 7 and whichterminates in a chimney 22 :above the roof 23 of the thawing plant.' Associated witheach heater ll'is a blower diagrammatically represented at13, the construction of which is not material to the` invention. The blower 13 lsupplies theheater 11 with pair to be reheated through the trunk 24. An 'electric motor 25 with abelt drive 26 is shown as the' prime kmover vfor operating the blower 13'. f

Referring toeFig. VII, I have shown at the right-hand side of the thawing plant a coal car track 4 with a car 27 thereon, there n being a coal pocket 28 beneath the cari'nto whichcoal for the heatersV 11 vis dumped. A cut-ofi gate29 controls the' flow 0f coal from the pocket V28 into a coal wagon 30 which runs on the'V narrow gauge track on thefloor of the basement. At the left hand side ofthe thawing yplant I haveshown an ash car track 5 with a car 31 thereon for the coal pocket 28 to receive coal for fueling the heaters 11. Obviously the arrangement shown can be readily adapted for the transportation and handling of other fuels than Y coal such as coke or oil.

The run-around track serves to allow the passage of a train of cars by the thawing plant when the various .other tracks are occupied, and may also be conveniently used for reversing the position of a locomotive on atrainfrom. one end to the other.

The operation of my thawing apparatus being apparent-from the description need only be briefly described. Initiallyy the train of cars, the contents ofv which are to bel thawed, is separated into divisionsv which are shunted into the requisite number ofcompartments. The doors of the, compartments are then closed, andin the meanwhile the heaters 'for those compartments which are occupied arejcharged and their respectivek 7 blowers set in operation.` The manual labor involved in tending the heaters is materially Y anism previously described.l It will be apparent that the arrangement of thel constituent parts of theplant is such reduced by the'coal and ash handling mechf that heat lossesare exceedingly small. VAThe f positioning of the `heaters A directly beneath the compartments to be heated enables the use ofk conduits of the shortest possible length for conducting` vair to thecompa'rtmentsfand -i returning it tothe blowers.' `Furthermore, by incorporating conduits in the foundations between the several compartments in fthe manner shown there is heat to the ground. Y

yWhile I have illustrated and described one form ofmy invention, it will rv'be' apparent toV those skilled in the vart thatrchanges may ,little dissipation of be madein the form ofthe apparatus dis-k closed without departing fromthe spiritof the inventionfan'd that certain features of the apparatus described maysometimes be used with advantage without a corresponding use of other features. Y

Havnglthus vdescribed my invention, I claim: n 1. A' thawing yapparatus comprising Aa number of insulated contiguous comparti-ly ments and tracks forihousing 'divisions of a train of cars carrying` material 'to ,be thawed, foundations for the longitudinal partitions of said compartments, said longi-V tudin al foundations Vbeing formed vwith ,conduits therein for supplyingheated Vair to said compartments beneath the track level, a'number of air heating furnacesfor inde; pendently heating said compartments, and located therebeneath, ainumber ofblowers adjacenty said furnaces,'and return air in-4 takes directly above .said blowersandbeneat-h' the track level of said compartments.

2. `A thawingapparatuscomprising a number of insulated' contiguous compartments withtracks for housing divisions of a train of cars carrying material to be thawed, foun# dations for vthe longitudinal partitions of said compartments, said longitudinal ounf dations being formed with conduits therein for supplying heated air to said compartments beneath the track level, a pit running transversely and centrally of said compartments'and situated therebeneath, a number ofair heating furnaces in said pit for independently heating said compartments, a like n number of blowersy adjacent saidy furnaces Y andreturn air intakes Ldirectly above said blowers and beneath the track level of said compartments.

"In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name at Indianapolis, Ind., this 11th day of October, 1928 CARLETON K. STEINS.

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