US2358074A

US2358074A - Locking rod operating mechanism for charging machines for open-hearth furnaces

Info

Publication number: US2358074A
Application number: US509714A
Authority: US
Inventors: John H Kincaid
Original assignee: WELLMAN ENGINEERING Co
Current assignee: WELLMAN ENGINEERING Co
Priority date: 1943-11-10
Filing date: 1943-11-10
Publication date: 1944-09-12
Anticipated expiration: 1961-09-12

Description

Sept. 12, 1944.- H. KINCAID LOCKING ROD OPERATING MECHANISM FOR CHARGING MACHINES FOR OPEN HEARTH FURNACES Filed NOV. 10, 1945 N R w Patented Sept. 12, 1944 LOCKING ROD OPERATING MECHANISM FOR CHARGING MACHINES FOR OPEN- HEARTH FURNACES John H. Kincaid, Cleveland Heights, Ohio, assignor to The Wellman Engineering Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio.

Application November 10, 1943, Serial No. 509,714

6 Claims.

This invention relates to an improved means for the operation of the locking rod of a charging machine for open hearth furnaces.

With the ordinary locking rod operating mech anism the tilting motion of the ram and spindle frame is accompanied by motion of the hand lever located on the operators platform, with the result that there is no definite position of the hand lever corresponding with either the locked or the unlocked position of the rod. Movement of the hand lever also presents a hazard to the operator.

The principal object of the invention is to permit tilting of the ram and spindle without any accompanying motion of the hand lever, with the result that there will be definite positions of the hand lever corresponding to both the locked and the unlocked positions of the rod, and the hand lever will remain stationary at all times unless intentionally moved by the operator.

The above object is attained very effectively by the present invention which may be here briefly summarized as consisting in certain novel details of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts which will be described in the specification and set forth in the appended claims.

In the accompanying sheet of drawings,

Fig. 1 is a simplified showing of a side elevation of a charging machine, a furnace, and. a charging box, the furnace and the charging box being shown by dotted lines; and.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation with portions in section, illustrating my invention.

Referring now to Fig. 1, It] represents the frame of a charging machine which is adapted to travel parallel to a row of open hearth furnaces on rails ll, one of the furnaces being indicated at l2 by dotted lines. Between the furnace and the rails H is adapted to travel a car or lorry [3 which is adapted to present charging boxes [4 in line with the opening of the open hearth furnace [2. Additionally, the charging machine includes a trolley or cross carriage lila which is adapted when moved toward, the furnace to insert the charging boxes into the furnace.

The charging machine also includes a ram !5, a spindle I6, and a spindle frame I! which is pivoted or fulcrumed at 18 on the cross carriage or trolley Illa. The ram and spindle frame are adapted to be tilted by mechanism indicated at l9, and the spindle I6 is adapted to be rotated about its axis when a charging box has been connected thereto and has been inserted in the furnace and it is desired to dump the contents thereof into the furnace, this rotating motion being imparted to the spindle by a motor 20 conheated (through intermediate gearing not shown) to a gear 2| secured to the rear nd of the spindle. -T he ram, the spindle frame, and the associated parts, including the tilting mechanism, the rotating motor, etc., are all carried on the trolley or cross carriage Illa and are adapted to move toward and away from the furnace on rails, a portion of one of which is shown at 22, carried by the frame 10 of the charging machine, this mechanism being supported on the rails 22 through wheels 23 one of which is shown by dotted lines in its rearward position and also in its forward position by dotted lines in Fig. 1.

The mechanism so far described is old and very well known, and it is thought that the simplifi'ed showing of Fig. 1 will suffice.

I will now describe the mechanism constituting the present invention which, as before stated,

relates to the mechanism for actuating the looking rod which is indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1 and by full lines in'Fig. 2 at 24. It is understood that this locking rod is adapted to be moved forwardly and rearwardly with reference to the ram l5 so that when moved forwardly it will lock the forward end i5a of the ram l5 into an opening or slotted portion I la ofthe charging box l4 and, when moved rearwardly, it will release the charging box, as is well understood in the art.

To attain the object stated in the early part of the specification and to overcome the disadvantages of the prior mechanisms for shifting the locking rod 24 forwardly or rearwardly, I have provided the following improved mechanism: r

The operators platform is indicated at 25 in Figs. 1 and 2, this platform being suitably sup-' ported on the trolley or cross carriage Hla. Located on this platform is a rod shifting hand lever- 26 which i s pivoted at 21 intermediate its ends and carries a pawl 28 which is adapted to engage in notches in a segment 29 so as to-positively lock the lever 26 in its forward or rearward position. The lower end of the hand lever 26 beneath the pivot point 21 is pivotally connected to a rod 30 which at its forward end carries a roller 3| which is supported by a link 32 pivotally connected at 33 to an extension 34 of the trolley or cross carriage Illa. The roller 3| engages in a curved slot 35 of a rod operating member 36 to which is connected the locking rod 24 by means of a swivel joint 31 which will permit the locking rod 24 to rotate with the ram and ram spindle, as is well known in the art.

It is an important feature of the present invention that the slot 35 and the member 36 are so formed as to permit the ram with the locking rod 24 to be raised and lowered without disturbing the hand lever 26 or the rod 30 and at the same time permit the locking rod 24 to be moved backward and forward by shifting the hand lever 26. This is accomplished by curving the slot 35 on a radius which is concentric with the center of the pivot or fulcrum I8 for the spindle frame on the trolley or cross carriage Illa when the member 38 is in normal position shown in Figs. 1 and 2. In other words, it is desirable that the slotted member 36 with its slot 35 move idly with reference to the roller 31 when the ram and spindle frame are being tilted and at the same time permit the roller to move freely in the slot 35 while the roller as well as the rod 30 and hand lever are being moved to shift the locking rod 24 either forwardly or rearwardly. All this-is accomplished by curving the slot'35 on a radius concentric with the pivot point [8 which is located at the forward end of the spindle frame II.

My improved mechanism is completed by movably connecting the slotted member 36 to the gear housing 38 which is mounted at the rear end of the spindle frame IT. This is'accomplished in this instance by means of two lazy tong links 39 and 40 which are pivotally connected intermediate their ends at 4] and at their lower ends are pivotally connected at 42 and 43 to the lower end of the slotted member 36 and to the rear end of the gear housing 38 respectively, while at their upper ends they are provided with rollers 44 which engage in slots suitably formed at the upper end of the slotted member 36 and at the rear end of the gear housing 38 respectively.

' naces, a charging machine frame adapted to travel along a trackway and provided with a trolley or cross carriage, a ram, a spindle, and a spindle frame pivotally supported on the trolley or cross carriage, a locking rod movable back and forth with reference to the ram, spindle and spindle frame, and means for moving the locking rod comprising a member operatively connected to the locking rod, said member having a slot curved on a radius in predetermined relation to the pivotal center of the spindle frame, a roller movable in the slot of said member, a link suspending said roller, and a hand lever operatively connected to said roller.

3. In a charging machine for open hearth furnaces, a charging machine frame adapted to travel along a trackway and provided with a trolley or cross carriage, a ram, a spindle, and a spindle frame pivotally supported on the trolley or cross carriage, a locking rod movable back and forth with reference to the ram, spindle and spindle frame, and means for moving the locking rodback and forth comprising a member operatively connected to the rod, said member having a slot with a radius of curvature equal substantially to the distance of said slot from the pivotal connection of the spindle frame to the trolley or cross carriage, a part which is movable in the slot of said member, a link pivotally suspending said part, and a hand lever which is operatively connected to said part.

4. In a charging machine for open hearth furnaces, a charging machine frame, a trolley or cross carriage movable on the charging machine frame toward and from a furnace, a spindle frame, a ram, a spindle, and an operators plat- This mechanism connects the slotted member 36 to the rear end of the spindle frame or to the gear housing 38 so that, when the hand lever 26 is shifted, the requisite movement will be imparted to the locking rod 24. Likewise it will be seen that the hand lever is fixed in definite positions by the locking pawl 28 for either the forward or rearward position of the locking rod 24 and does not swing back and forth as has been the case heretofore whenthe ram and the spindle frame are tilted. 7

It will be seen therefore that the object of the invention stated in the early part of the specification is attained very effectively by the mechanism of the present invention.

While I have shown the preferred embodiment of the invention, I do not desire to be limited thereto but aim in my claims to cover all modifications which do not involve a departure from the spirit and the scope of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a charging machine for open hearth furnaces, a charging machine frame having a trolley or cross carriage, a ram, a spindle, and a spindle frame pivotally supported on said trolley or cross carriage, a locking rod movable through the ram, spindle and spindle frame, and means for moving said locking rod back-and forth, said means comprising a member having a curved slot operatively connected to the rod, a part which is movable in the slot, a link pivotally suspending said part, and a hand lever connected to said part.

2. In a charging machine for open hearth furform carried by the trolley or cross carriage, the spindle frame being pivotally connected to said trolley or cross carriage, a locking rod movable back and forth with reference to the ram, spindle and spindle frame, and means for moving the locking rod comprising a member which is operatively connected to the locking rod and which has a slot curved on a radius equal substantially to the distance of the slot from the center of the pivotal connection of the spindle frame on the trolley or cross carriage, a roller movable in the slot of said member, a link suspending said roller, and a pivoted hand lever operatively connected to said roller, said hand lever being accessible to the operator while standing on said platform to positively latch the hand lever in the forward and rearward positions of the locking rod.

5. In a charging machine for open hearth furnaces, a charging machine frame, a trolley or cross carriage movableon the charging machine frame toward and from a furnace, a spindle frame, a ram, a spindle, and an operators platform carried by the trolleylor cross carriage, the spindle frame being pivotally connected to said trolley or cross carriage, a locking rod movable back and forth with reference to the ram, the spindle and the spindle frame, and means for moving the locking rOd comprising a member which is operatively connected to the locking rod and which has a slot curved on a radius equal substantially to the distance of the slot from the center of the pivotal connection of the spindle frame on the trolley or cross carriage, apart movable in the slot of said member, a link suspending said part, and a pivoted hand lever operatively connected to said part, said slotted member being movably connected with an extension of the spindle frame, said hand lever being accessible to the operator while standing on said platform to positively latch the hand lever in the forward and rearward positions of the locking rod. o

6. In a charging machine for open hearth furnaces, a charging machine frame, a trolley or cross carriage movable on the charging machine frame toward and from a furnace, a spindle frame, a ram, a spindle, and an operator's platform carried by the trolley or cross carriage, the spindle frame being pivotally connected to said trolley or cross carriage, a locking rod movable back and forth with reference to the ram, the spindle and the spindle frame, and means for moving the locking rod comprising a member which is operatively connected to the locking rod and which has a slot curved on a radius equal substantially to the distance of the slot from the center of the pivotal connection of the spindle frame on the trolley or cross carriage, a part extension of the spindle frame, said hand leverbeing accessible to the operator while standing on said platform to positively latch the hand lever in the forward and rearward .positions of the locking rod.

JOHN H. KINCAID.