US2211564A - Apparatus for feeding coal or the like - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 13, 1940. w HANNA APPARATUS FOR FEEDING COAL on THE LIKE Filed Nov. 9, 1957 EIWQM W I INVENTOR. William 7? Hanna,

@214, Can 29 v M ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 13, 1940 PATENT eerie APPARATUS FOR" FEEDING COAL on THE LIKE William Thompson Hanna, Cincinnati, Ohio Application November 9, 1937, Serial No. 173,559

Claims.

The present invention relates to an improvement in apparatus for feeding coal or the like. Although not limited in use to automatic locomotive .stokers, it affords certain important ad- 5 vantages when applied to that type of stoker wherein coal of heterogeneous particle size is automatically fed to thelocomotive firebox from the coal bin of a tender. One'cbject of the invention when so employed isto afford a more durable and effective tender conveyor and-crusher mechanism to meet certain problemsarising out of the current tendency toward longer coal bins than those heretofore commonly used with automatic stokers. A further object has been to provide a coal feeding device adaptable to the longerbins without undue increase in'weight and of a type which may readily be accommodated in the limited spaceavailab-l-e for such purpose and which will afford increased accessibility for replacement or repair of 'the' wearing parts. Other advantages of the improved apparatus will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

One embodiment of the invention in a form designed for use with locomotive stokers is illustrated in the drawing accompanying the present specification and in Which- Figure 1 is a plan view;

' Figure 2, a longitudinal vertical section on the line 2-2 of Figure 1f;

Figure 3, a transverse section on the line 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4, a transverse vertical section on the line 4-4 of Figure 1;

Figure 5, a'transverse vertical section on the line 5-5 of Figure 2;

Figure 6, a transverse section on the line 6-6 .ofFigurelf Figure 7, an oblique longitudinal vertical section on the line 1-1 of Figure l and of Figure 5,

and

Figure 8, a longitudinal horizontal section on the line 8-8 of Figure 6.

The illustrative apparatus comprises a hopper I having a discharge opening 2 at its delivery end, Figure 2, a screw conveyor 3 arranged obliquely to the longitudinal axis of the hopper l, and an auxiliary screw conveyor 4 for discharging coal delivered thereto from screw conveyor 3, a crusher 5, and means for actuating said conveyors to transport coal along and from hopper I and deliver the same. in crushed condition through said discharge opening 2 into a suitable conduit 6 leading to a locomotive firebox, not

shown. Y

The hopper 1t: isi'shown-inoperative position below the levelof the tender deck or coal bin floor 1 which customarily includes a plurality of slidable floor plates 8, Figures 2 and 5. The rear wall 9 of hopper I is recessed at Ill toprovide an end bearing for the hub of screw conveyor 3, said hub being preferably tapered from its rear to its front or delivery end.

A portion of the bottom wall of hopper I is shaped to form a trough I I, the longitudinal axis of which is laterally oblique to the central longitudinal axis of the hopper as a whole, Figure 1 and to the vertical plane of the central'longitudinalaxis of the tender on which the hopper is mounted. The bottom of trough l i also declines from rear to front, Figure 2, thus producing a 15 corresponding increase in the eifective cross sectional area of the trough from rear to front.

The front end of the hub of conveyor 3 is journaled at I2, Figure '7, in the front wall of hop- 7 per I, which with a face plate It encloses a gear l4 fixed to said hub and driven by an idler gear l5, Figure 6, actuated in'turn by a pinion IS on a shaft ll. A universal joint 58 connects shaft IT with a suitable shaft l9 connected with a power source not shown.

One of the advantages of providing the bottom of the trough H with a decline from its rearward to its forward end is that the tendency of. the fuel being moved through the hopper to wedge between the floor of the coal bin and the conveyor is reduced. Where longer bins have been used with the customary incline toward the delivery end coal sometimes packs requiring an excessive amount of power to keep the conveyor in motion. A hopper embodying the present invention thus requires less power and the bearings and other moving parts are not subjected to the excessive wear to which they are subjected inthe usual hopper construction.

Another portion of hopper l is shaped to form an auxiliary trough or conduit 28 laterally adjacent to and opening into the delivery end of trough H. The longitudinal axis of trough 20 dips rearwardly and lies substantially in a vertical plane passing through the central longitudinal axis of the hopper, Figure l, and of the tender. The rear wall 2! of auxiliary trough 20 provides a bearing for the rear end of the hub of an auxiliary screw conveyor 22, said hub being tapered from rear to front to facilitate passage of coal from the auxiliary trough 20 through the end opening 2 and into the conduit 6 which is in effect a moderately inclined continuation of the fuel passageway afforded by auxiliary trough 20 and vertically aligned therewith and with the central longitudinal axis of the tender.

The crusher plate is provided with teeth 23 extending obliquely from its under face toward the auxiliary conveyor 22 and cooperating therewith to crush oversized pieces of coal as they become wedged between the vane of auxiliary conveyor 22 and the under side of crusher plate 5.

As shown in Figures 2 and. 8, the auxiliary conveyor 22 carries a gear 24 enclosed by a face plate 25 in a recess formed in the rear wall 2!. Gear 24 meshes with a gear 26 on shaft 21, the latter being driven by a telescoping shaft 28 preferably universally connected to said shaft 21 and to shaft l1, Figures 7 and 8. Thus, power applied to shaft l1, Figures 6 and '7, is transmitted through idler gear 15 to drive conveyor 3 and, as above indicated, through telescoping shaft 28 and gear 26, to drive the auxiliary conveyor 22. As shown in Figures 1 and 7, a telescoping shaft 29 is universally connected to be driven by gear l4 and to drive other portions (not shown) of the complete stoker assembly.

In the embodiment of the invention as shown in Figures 1 and 2, the conveyor 3 is.provided with separate vanes 30 and 3| of opposite pitch arranged on the hub with their respective delivery ends spaced apart and opposite the opening from trough ll into auxiliary trough 20. It will be understood that the function of vane 3| is to clear coal from the forward end of the bin and to cooperate with vane 30 in feeding coal laterally from trough l I into trough 2B. A deflecting plate 32 located opposite a portion of the space between the delivery ends of vanes 30 and 31 facilitates the lateral feed of coal by cooperative action of said vanes.

In operation, the screw conveyor vanes 30 and 3| feed coal into auxiliary trough 20 where it is crushed if necessary against crusher 5 and discharged through opening 2 by the auxiliary conveyor 22. The provision of this effective lateral feed permits the advantageous use of the front end drive particularly with long bins. The increasing cross sectional area of trough H from rear to front and the tapering hub of conveyor 3 facilitate coal movement along said trough. Furthermore, the oblique arrangement of trough I l permits lateral feed of coal therefrom to auxiliary trough 20 without undue increase in weight of the hopper as a whole and permits the use of a front end drive of sturdy design and construction within the limited space available for such purposes in the usual locomotive tender.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for feeding coal or the like comprising a hopper having a discharge opening, one portion of the bottom wall of said hopper being shaped to form a conveyor trough of which the longitudinal axis lies at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the hopper and another portion of said bottom wall being shaped to form an auxiliary trough at one side of said conveyor trough and said troughs having an unrestricted passageway between the sides thereof for the. flow of coal from the conveyor trough to the auxiliary trough, a screw conveyor in said conveyor trough, gear means located beneath the tender for applying driving force to said screw conveyor at its discharge end, and an auxiliary'conveyor in the auxiliary trough positioned to discharge coal through said discharge opening and driving means for driving said auxiliary conveyor.

2. In combination with a locomotive and tender,

apparatus for feeding coal or the like comprising a hopper located beneath the tender and having a discharge opening, one portion of the bottom wall of said hopper being shaped to form a conveyor trough of which the longitudinal axis lies at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the hopper, said trough increasing in effective cross sectional area toward its discharge end, and another portion of said bottom wall being shaped to form an auxiliary trough the side of which opens into one side of said conveyor trough, and said discharge opening being in the forward wall of said auxiliary trough, a screw conveyor in said conveyor trough, means for applying driving force to said conveyor at its discharge end, and an auxiliary screw conveyor in the auxiliary trough positioned to discharge coal through said discharge opening.

3. Apparatus for feeding coal or the like comprising a hopper having a discharge opening, one portion of the bottom wall of said hopper being shaped to form a conveyor trough, and another portion of said bottom wall being shaped to form a short auxiliary trough at one side of said conveyor trough and provided with an unrestricted opening in the side thereof communicating with said conveyor trough, and said discharge opening being in the forward wall of said auxiliary trough, a screw conveyor in said conveyor trough, means for applying driving force to said conveyor at its discharge end, and an auxiliary screw conveyor in the auxiliary trough positioned to discharge coal through said discharge opening and means for applying driving force to said auxiliary screw conveyor at its rearward end and a crusher. in said auxiliary trough cooperating with said auxiliary screw conveyor.

4. In a locomotive tender having a fuel bin arranged to discharge through an aperture in the tender floor, the combination of a stoker trough mounted beneath said bin and apertured to receive fuel therefrom and having its longitudinal axis inclined laterally at an angle to the vertical medial plane of the tender, and a conduit mounted on the tender with its longitudinal axis substantially in said vertical medial plane thereof and the fuel receiving end thereof being offset laterally and vertically from the delivery end of said trough, a fuel conveyor in the trough, a fuel conveyor in the conduit, drive transmission means at the front end of the trough and connected to drive said fuel conveyor therein, and drive transmission means at the rear of said conduit and connected to drive said conduit conveyor to deliver fuel in said conduit from a position rearwardly of said first mentioned drive transmission to a position in advance thereof.

5. Locomotive stoker mechanism of the type wherein the locomotive tender has a conveyor trough to receive coal from the tender bin and feed it forwardly to a transfer conduit provided between the locomotive and the tender to pass coal from the delivery end of the conveyor trough to the locomotive firebox, and further characterized in that the conveyor trough is arranged with its longitudinal axis at an angle to the vertical medial plane of the tender and of said transfer conduit and dips forwardly with its delivery end offset laterally and vertically from the inlet end of said transfer conduit, and an intermediate trough provided to receive coal from said conveyor trough and pass it into said transfer conduit and arranged with its longitudinal axis laterally and vertically offset from that of the conveyor trough and substantially in the vertical medial plane of the tender and of said transfer conduit and dips rearwardly from the inlet end of said transfer conduit.

6. Locomotive stoker mechanism of the type wherein the locomotive tender has a coal bin with an apertured floor and a hopper mounted below said bin and a transfer conduit mounted between the locomotive firebox-and the delivery end of said hopper, said mechanism including a screw conveyor in said hopper arranged with its axis at an angle to the vertical medial plane of the tender and inclined downwardly from rear to front thereof, a screw conveyor in the transfer conduit arranged with its axis substantially in .the vertical medial plane of the tender, an auxiliary trough on the tender to receive coal from the hopper and pass it into said transfer conduit, a screw conveyor in the auxiliary trough arranged with its axis substantially in the vertical medial plane of the tender and dipping rearwardly and with its forward end operatively connected to drive said screw conveyor in the transfer conduit, a driving gear mounted at the forward end of said hopper to drive the screw conveyor, therein, a driving gear mounted at the rear end of said auxiliary trough to drive the screw conveyor therein, a shaft operatively connecting said driving gears, and a drive shaft connected to actuate said first mentioned driving gear.

7. In a locomotive stoker, in combination, a tender hopper adapted to be located beneath the fuel bin of the tender, said hopper having a main trough extending forwardly from the medial vertical plane of the tender at an angle with respect thereto, and having a second trough disposed in front of said first trough and having its axis in said vertical medial plane, said troughs opening into each other from their sides and having common-oppositely disposed side walls, and a screw conveyor lying in said first trough and extending substantially the length of said second trough, and a second screw conveyor located in said second trough and displaced laterally and downwardly with respect to said first conveyor.

8. In a stoker for locomotive and tender for unloading fuel from a tender and conveying it to the fire box of a locomotive, in combination, a tender hopper adapted to be located below the floor of said tender, a main trough in said hopper extending substantially the full length thereof, a short trough in said hopper offset from said main trough and provided with an unrestricted passage for the flow of fuel thereto from said main trough, a transfer conduit adapted to connect the delivery end of said short trough and said locomotive fire box, a screw conveyor in said first trough, means for drivingsaid screw conveyor, a second screw conveyor in said short trough and extending into said transfer conduit, a fuel crusher mounted in said short trough, and means for driving said second named screw conveyor from its rearward end.

9. In a stoker for locomotive and tender for unloading fuel from a tender and conveying it to the fire 'box of a locomotive, in combination, a tender hopper adapted to be located below the floor of said tender, a main trough in said hopper extending substantially the full length thereof, an auxiliary trough in said hopper and an unrestricted passage connecting the side of said main trough near its delivery end with a side of said auxiliary trough, a screw conveyor in said main trough extending substantially the full length of the mouth of said passage and provided with means for urging the fuel moving along the trough to diverge sidewardly' into said auxiliary trough, and a screw conveyor in said auxiliary trough for moving the fuel therethr'ough.

10. In a locomotive stoker, in combination, a tender hopper adapted to be located beneath the fuel bin of the tender, said hopper having a main trough extending forwardly from the rearward end of said bin and having a second trough disposed beside the forward end of said first trough, said troughs opening into each other from their sides and having common oppositely disposed side walls, and a screw conveyor lying in said first trough and extending substantially the length of said second trough, and a second screw conveyor located in said second trough.

WILLIAM THOMPSON HANNA.

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