US2413335A - Apparatus for operating coke ovens with movable walls - Google Patents

Description

31, 1946. PUENING 2,413,335

APPARATUS FOR OPERATING COKE OVENS WITH MOVABLE WALLS Filed Jan. 18, 1943 7 Sheets-Sheet 1 r womtov F. PUENINGI Bet. 341, 1946. 2,413,335

APPARATUS FOR OPERATING coxm OVENS WITH MOVABLE wALL 7 sheets-sheet 2 n l HU /l /l I,

31, 1946. F. PUENING 2,413,335 APPARATUS FOR OPERATING COKE OVENS WITH mo ABLEwALLs Filed Jan. 18, 1943 7 Sheets-Sheet 3 M31, 1946. I UENING 2,413,335

APPARATUS FOR OPERATING COKE OVENS WITH MOVABLE WALLS Filed Jan. 18, 1943 'rsheets-sheet 4 F. PUENING APPARATUS FOR OPERATING COKE OVENS WITH MOVABLE WALLS Filed Jan. 18, 1943 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 31, 19%. F. PUIIENING 1 2,413,335

APPARATUS FOR OPERATING COKE OVENS WITH MOVABLE WALLS Filed Jan. 18, 1943 7 Sheets-Sheet 6 F. PUENING APPARATUS FOR OPERATING COKE OVENS WITH MOVABLE WALLS Filed Jan. 18, 1943 7 Sheets-Sheet 7 Patented Dec. 31, 1946 u no STATES PATENT orr ca are FOR OPERATING COKE OVENS at MDVABLE WALLS Frans u-r- Bethlehem, Pa. Application January 18, 1943, Serial No. 472,886

, 19, 1941, whichdescribe ovens in which each coking chamber formed between a pair of movable walls is equipped with individual means for sealing the chamber separately from the atmosphere, there being no enclosure common to the several walls. The oven walls are preferably built of fire-bricks and preferably are of very large size, as for instance, 16 ft. by 30ft. and they are therefore quite sensitive to hostile forces. They can easily be warped or buckled, which in case of brick walls would cause cracks in the walls and gas-leaks between the heating flues on the one side and the coal chambers on the other hand, which is turn would destroy safety and economy of operation. Such warping would also mean that the width of some coal chambers is increased while the width of the adjoining chamber is decreased with the result that the thicker body of coal requires a longer coking time, resulting in loss of plant capacity and in uneven coke quality. Furthermore, such movable walls when suspended on jointed or otherwise flexible hangers or supports are very sensitive to eccentric loads, and are easily swayed out of their alignment by the weight of eccentrically located inlets for heating gas and air and outlets for waste heat and by layers of insulating materials, and by eccentric attack of the forces required to move the walls. The hydrostatic pressure of the coal also tries to press the top or the bottom portion of the walls apart and to make them assume wedge-shaped position. It

' teract all distracting forces that might interfere with the successful commercial operation of large brick oven batteries and thus forestall expenses and delays.

A further object of this invention has to do with the well-known characteristic of low volatile coals, to swell during coking operation and to exert pressure against the oven walls. This pressure is fairly low during the first and major portion of the coking period until the last quarter of the period approaches, when the swelling increases more rapidly and may reach a pressure 15 Cla (fla v chamber.

peak quite destructive to the ovens. The precise moment when the maximum pressure peak is reached greatly depends upon the width of the On the average the peak is reached after 75% of the coking operation is completed. Therefore, ma 6'' oven which cokes in 4 hours the peak is reached after 3 hours; while in a 4" oven which cokes in 2 hours it would be reached after 1 hours and in an 8" oven which cokes in 6 hours it would "be reached in 4 hours.

It is an object of this invention to provide means which forestall damage due to excessive swelling peaks by making certain that at the beginning of the coking operation all chambers have equal width and by increasing the width of all oven chambers in a battery uniformly, so that with absolute certainty every part of each chamber receives the same increment in width at the same moment during the coking operation and by thereafter, after the discharge of the coke, returning all walls to exactly their original position in the battery, so that all pressure peaks in all chambers in the battery develop at the same time and thereby neutralize each other, and are also reduced in height to avoid, during these motions of the walls, any Jerking or vibrating of the walls in order to prevent disturbance of coke formation and damage to the walls.

A further object of this invention has to do with the means for sealing the coking chambers.

Since the new oven is intended for operation'on the largest commercial scale, it ls absolutely necessary, in view of the value of the by-products,

that the chambers remain perfectly sealed against the atmosphere, during the coking operation, also in case the width of the chambers is increased during coking. Consequently sealing means are provided, which permit the chambers of a block to be expanded in width, for instance from 5" to 7", while the coking action proceeds, without thereby unsealing the chambers, the sealing means to be of a type adapted for commercial simultaneous operation of many large coking chambers in a battery, and adapted to operate automatically and reliably and without loss of time, and to remain gas-tight in spite of the higher coal gas pressure in the chambers. which results from the high coking speed.

In order that the nature of the invention may be more clearly appreciated, particular embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation through a battery of coking ovens, comprising four coking chambers, the section being taken on the line i--i of Figure 2;

Figure 2 is a sectional elevation through one of the coking walls, the section being taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a partial plan view upon the top sealing troughs, shown in Figures 1 and 2;

Figure 4 is a partial horizontal section through the battery taken on the line 44 of Figure 2;

Figures 5, 6,7 and 8 show details of the topsupporting truck and the means for moving it, shown also in the top right-hand corner of Figure 1;

Figure 9 is a sectional elevation through onegf the spreading screws taken on line 99 of Figure.

Figure 10 is a sectional plan view taken on lines ill-i of Figure 9;

Figure '11 is a sectional elevation taken on lines ii-H of Figure 9;

Figures 12'and 13 show details of the clutches shown also in Figure 9;

Figure 14 shows the centralized drives for moving the walls in end elevation, the view being taken on the line ll-l4 in Figure 1; and

Figures 15, 16 and l'l show details of the sealing means, shown also at the upper right-hand corner of the coking wall in Figure 2.

Two rigid supporting towers I, see Figure 1, are set up at distances sufficient to permit between them the construction and operation of preferably only one battery of coking ovens comprising from six to ten coking chambers 2, sandwiched between movable walls 3, although only four chambers are shown in Figure 1. The towers l serve to support two strong girders l which in turn serve to support the coking walls 3.

Coking chambers 2 formed between walls 3 are heated by burners 6, see Figure 2. Waste heat may leave through exit fiues equipped with flexible Joints 1, permitting motion of the walls.

Each of the coking walls 3 is held together by a strong iron frame, having a horizontal bottom beam 8 and a horizontal top beam 8 and-two lateral vertical buckstays [0, these latter having upward extensions H making connection with two movable trucks l2, composed of rollers l3, see Figures 5, 6, 7, 8, held together by chassis l4, roller plate l5 balancing plate l6, supported above roller plate l5 by means of tilting bearing H which prevents lateral motion between these plates; the truck being further composed of screw nut l8 held in its position by bolts 13 and brackets 20. Theupward extensions ll of the buckstays are forked, see Figure 2, having a second branch-2| reaching upward and passing around the outside of the girders and being connected to the outer portion of said trucks. outer branch of the forked extension can be quickly disconnected from the stronger inner branch I l by removing bolts 22 and 23, whereupon the coking wall with its frame can be lifted out of its position and replaced by another. Additional operating rails 25 are provided above girdersl for the operation, for instance, of the coal 'charging machinery, said operating rails being located above said spreading trucks and supported by stools 26 built upon said girders in positions between said buckstays. The top supporting trucks are thus linked to the walls by stiff bucl" tays. The rollers l3 are equipped with round finiges 21 which grip around the top flanges 21 which grip around the top flanges 28 of girder d. The roller plates l5 are of the same width as the top flange 28 so that the lateral position of the buckstays and the coking walls relative to girders ii is guaranteed by virtue of these flanged rollers and the tilting bearings [1.

The outermost coking walls are protected against heat losses by heavy blankets of insulating brick-work 30, see Figures 1 and 4, and by slabs of concrete 3| and by a strong gridwork of iron beams 32, which absorbs the pressure exerted by the coal during carbonization and prevents warping of the brick-walls. The insulating brickwork 30 and the concrete slab are held together by means of iron frames 33 similar to those surrounding each brickwall and these frames 33 also extend upward and may be connected to their own top trucks but preferably they are connected to the outer top trucks I2--a which carry the outer wall 3-4, these latter trucks being made correspondingly longer, so that the outer walls 3a move in common with their insulating blankets and their iron gridwork 32. Frames 8, 3, l0 and H of the coking walls are firmly tied to the frames of the insulating walls 33 for instance by tie plates 34 and 35, Figure 1.

For the purpose of forcing the walls to execute the desired accurate motions and for holding them securely in their intended position, without allowing their frames any other possibility but to remain in their intended vertical position, there have been provided six distance regulating spindles 40 and l I, see also Figure 14, four of these spindles are connected'to the iron frames surrounding the walls 3 while two more are connected to the movable trucks l2. In the case of the outer coking walls which are connected to the iron grids 32 by tie plates 34, 35, the screw spindles are preferably connected to these grids 32 and not to the wall frames Ill.

The right-hand ends of the four lower spindles- 40 are supported in tower I. Bearings 42,are provided to permit rotation of the spindles, see also Figure 9, while collars 43 are provided to stop longitudinal movement of the spindles. The right-hand ends of the four spindles 40, see Figure 14, are equipped with worm-gear drives 45 driven by shafts l6 and spur-gears l1 and 48 connecting to vertical shaft 49 connecting to motor 50. The two top spindles 4| are driven by similar worm drives 52, spur-gears 53, vertical spindle 54 and spur-gears 55 connecting to shaft 46 and to the same motor 50,

The six screw spindles 40 and 4| are equipped with screw threads of increasing pitches, so that in case of seven coking walls, those regulating the position of the outer walls have, for instance,

a pitch of V4", those for the middle walls have This the inner walls have a pitch of while the position of the center wall is kept fixed by being connected to the screw shafts by means of simple bearing 56 located between collars 51, see Figure 9. The direction of the screw threads to the left of the center wall is opposite to the direction of the screw threads to the right, so that upon rotation of the motor all coke chambers are jointly either widened or narrowed. The screw threads for the inner walls may have a single thread, those for next adjoining walls a double thread, and those for the next following wallsa triple thread. Upon their rotation the screws turn toward each other so that their turning impulses vertical shape and position are guaranteed by the rigidity and strength of the tower. Furthermore, lateral or rotating motion of the walls within their vertical plane is made impossible by the flanged rollers i3, and the horizontal tilting bearing i 8 between the balancing plate I6 and the roller plate 85 which fix the lateral position of the buckstays, and by the rigidity of'the upper extensions ii of the buckstays and by the fact that the screw spindles are flanking the walls. This confinement of thewalls also has the advantage that the side sealing members remain in their intended alignment and gas-tight, see Figures 2 and 16. g

The screw spindles are located substantially near the corners of the walls but more exactly at elevations where they are most effective in carrying the pressure exerted against the iron grids 32. The free left-hand ends of the screw spindles may be centered in the left-hand tower or may be left free as shown in Figures 1 and 9.

The connection between the spindles 60 and the iron frames is shown in Figures 9, 10 and 11 the frame members or minor differences in heat expansion of the,walls will not create binding forces which resist the. operation of the spindles.

6. an electric limiting device of standard type is provided in order to forestall that the walls are carried beyond their initial position and damaged.

Such limiting device may, for instance, be connected to the top trucks or the screw spindles.

As already stated, it is intended to employ the oven also for the mass carbonization of coal of The thickness of the body of coal in each chamber is fixed firmly by the screws, so that in case the speed of the coal charging operation varies and one chamber is filled before the other, the static pressure of the coal will not distend that chamber, making that particular coal body thicker thus delaying its pressure peak while making the adjoining coal body thinner,

' thus advancing its pressure peak. The screws guarantee that thickness of coal bodies in the chambers may be varied during coking and that it will always be equal in all chambers.

The provision of the two top screw spindles 4| with their flanged rollers I3 has another important advantage, as follows: The brick-work of a wall, when heated expands sidewlse and presses against the buckstay. This force subjects the side buckstays to a horizontal bending force parallel to the coking surfaces. The coal pressure also tries to warp the wall out of its vertical plane in a direction normal to the coking surfaces. A

portion of this force is at times transferred to the side buckstays and subjects them to-another bending stress normal to the coking faces. In-

the new oven with its high walls,'these two forces would require heavy and expensive side buckstays. However, by fixing each top truck in its position, by means of the two top screw spindles with their flanged rollers and tilting bearing, and by extending the wall buckstays rigidly to these fixed trucks, the advantage is reached that each side buckstay is converted into a beam, the upper end of which is fixed, with the result that its strength to resist deflection is more than doubled. Thus also the use of very large brick-walls is facilitated.

For the returning of the walls to their initial closed position, the motor is started by hand and dangerously swelling type. For this purpose the following automatic pressure control is added.

The coal pressure is communicated fro'm brickwall to brickwall and flnally from the outer walls to the iron grids 32. The pressure is also at times transferred by each well to its own surrounding iron frame and from these through rotatable pins 62 and vertical set screws 83 and nut 60 onto the four screw spindles til. These spindles are preferably composed, see Figs. 9, 10, of separate relatively short, hollow screw shells 8| threaded on their outsides for cooperation with nuts 60, andalso composed of unthreaded shell II. All shells ti and ii are in contact with each other, and each, at its point of contact with the other is shaped in the form of a jaw clutch 13 so that the rotation imparted by worm drive 65 to shell H is communicated to all screw shells 6!. On the inside of the screw shells is provided hollow tension shaft 15, being firmly fixed in its longitudinal position relative to the screw shells by means of bolted on collars 63. lA further collar 44 is bolted onto shell H thus fixing the longitudinal position of the entire screw spindle 40 relative to bearings 62, worm drive 45 and-tower I. The strength of this tension shaft 15 is so chosen, that the coal expansion forces are successful in stretching the shaft within safe elastic limits, the increment in length of the shaft in case of a big commercial battery being for instance $4; of one inch.

On the inside of tension shaft I5 is loosely placed a reference rod 11, its longitudinal position within tension shaft 15 being fixed by nuts I8. Two spools 19 are slipped over reference rod 11 with pressure spring between them, strong enough to pull reference rod 11 as far as possible out of tension shaft 15 without however stretching the rod. The distance between the spools is thus always a maximum and faithfully indicates the tension in the four tension shafts l5 and thereby the pressure of the coal. Assuming the coal pressure were to be limited to 1 lb. per square inch of coking walls, and the coking surfaces in contact with the coal were 15' wide and 30' high, then the total pull on each tension shaft would be 16,200 lbs., which can be safely carried by a 1" double extra strong pipe, thereby stretching the pipe only about $4; inch. The distance between spools 19 will therefore be'decreased by inch, which is ample for the operation of electric contact and control mechanism 82 and 83 which is connected directly or by relay with motor 50. When contact points 83 touch each other the motor 50 is started and rotates all 6 screw spindles with the result that the distance between all the walls is increased until the contact points 83 have parted again, thus preventing the coal pressure against the brickwalls from rising above the stipulated 1 lb. per square inch. This automatic pressure limitation remains active during the, entire coking time. Assuming that the width of the coking chamber in the beginning of the operation when the chamber is filled with coal is 5 inches and that the coal chosen is of a type which swells 30% during carbonization when kept under a load of 1 lb. per square inch, then the described control mechanism will retract the walls the distance between the walls can be still further increased, to obtain discharge of the coke, after the coking operation is completed. This hand-control is also used for reversing the motor, in order to reduce the chambers to their original width.

The assurance that the automatic pressure control prevents damage to the walls gives the plant operator'the opportunity to raise the coking speed in the walls to a high level thus increasing the thruput of the ovens and their revenue. The reference rod 11 is needed in only one shaft.

The bottom door 85 and its supports; see Fig. 1,

are arranged to permit the spreading motion of the walls. The door is hinged around the shaft 85 attached to beam 8 of wall 8. The other side of the door is supported by horizontal bolt 81 forming part of the bracket 88, which is rotatable around fulcrum 88. When the walls are spread apart, bracket 88 and bolt 81 follow the horizontally receding door 85. If the coke is to be discharged, piston 88 belonging to the coke discharge ma'chine, not shown, is pushed upward against buifer 8| of bracket 88, whereby the horizontal bolt 81 is forced to the left and permits door 85 to drop.

Provisions have been taken to keep the coking chambers gas-tight, while the automatic spreading during coking operation takes place. a

The bottom opening of each coking chamber is sealed with the aid of a tub-shaped water filled door 85 shown in Figures 1 and 2 into which dip the bottom skirts 84 of the coking walls and the lowest ends of theside'frame plates 85 and of the side seals 86 and 81. The bottom skirts 84 extend laterally till they are in contact with and fixed in gas-tight manner to the lowest ends of the side frame plates 85. The skirts are pressed against bottom frame plates 85, so that horizontal sliding is Possible and expansion bends 88 are provided in each bottom skirt, so that gastight continuity of the bottom sealing means is assured in spite of heat expansion of the walls. Coke-breeze may be filled in on top of the bottom door thus keeping the coal away from the door' as it is customary with intermittent vertical ovens. Fig. '1 shows that the internal width of the doortub is ample in comparison to the distance between the two bottom skirts ,84 that there is liberty to increase the distance between the walls and the skirts, without collision between skirts and door-tub. I

The sides of the chambers are sealed by side seals preferably composed of triple sets of sealing pieces. Figure 16 shows the vertical side edges of adjoining coking walls I which are permanently and flexibly sealed against each other by side sealing members comprising three coacting relatively heavy metal members 88 and 81, pressed into continuously gas-tight pressure touch with each other and with the side frame plates 85- by means of tension springs I88, which are hooked onto the side frame angles I8I. These side frame angles are preferably simply pressed 'upon the side frame plates 85 by means of runs I81 fastened to the angles NH and by bolts I88 and batten plates I84 belonging to buckstays l8.

Metal members 98 and 81 stand upon each other and due to their weight the horizontal joints I 85, Figs. 1'1 and 2, between them are pressed together and sealed. The pressure may be increased by addition of springs. The metal members may sh ping, storing and handling of the sub-divided sealing parts is much facilitated and cost reduced. Also their subdivision into short pieces permits the use of cast iron, which is corrosion regiisting. an important feature in coking opera- In order to facilitate the assembling of these side members, projections may be provided on them which can be gripped by airs of tongues or vises. This system of side sealing members permits spreading of the walls during coking, while keeping the chambers as-tight.

In order to seal the top opening of each coking chambers! during coking, the chamber is surrounded on top by a continuous water filled trough, see Fig. 3, the two longitudinal sections of which I81 are slidably fastened to angles I88, Figs. 15 and 1, which are fixed upon the top frame plates I88 of the walls, while the gaps between the ends of the longitudinal sections I81 are bridged by semi-circular flexible bridging troughs II8. A removable bell-shaped cover II2, Figs. 1,

U-shaped extensions IIl Figures 15, 17, welded onto the side frame plates. The space between .the longitudinal sections and the U-shaped valleys is made gas-tight by means of packing material III.

The bridging troughs in Figures 15 and 1'7 are composed of metal links I I8 having trough shape and fitting together in the manner of swivel or ball joints. The links are pressed into water-tight connection with each other and with .the longitroughs I81 by means of tension springs Referring to Figure 2, water is maintained in reservoir I22 at level I28 by means of supply line I24 and overflow pipe I25, and from the reservoir it flows through hose I28 into the bridging trough II8. These fiexible water filled troughs in con junction with the bell-shaped cover permit spreading of the walls during coking, while keeping the chambers gas-tight.

The side sealing members continue upward to the height occupied by the top edges of the bridging troughs. The semi-circle described by the bridging trough is of ample diameter so that it surrounds the upper ends of .the side sealing members 88, 81. To effect an elastic and gas-tight connection between the uppermost ends of the side sealing members and the members of the side sealing trough an elastic packing body III has been provided, which is concentrically located between these groups of sealing members. Figures 17 and 2 show the packing body. which preferably is an inflated tube which may be applied in several layers, although only one layer is shown in the drawings. To effect the inflation, a fiuid. for instance, water or low pressure steam is pressed into the tube through pipe "I. The

. pressure is'regulated to create gas-tightness, but

a very low pressure is suilicient in view of the fact that the gas pressure inside the coking chamber To enable the bridgingtrough I ID to withstand the pressure exerted by the inflated tube I30, springs I20 are chosen to have suflicient strength. To enablethe' individual sections of the side seals to stand upon each other, brackets I32, see Fig. 2, have been provided extending from side frame plates 95 and brackets I33 extending from side sealing members 91, said brackets being interconnected by adjustable hangers I34 which serve to hold the lowest side sealing members in their position, so that the superposed members can rest on them. Means are also provided for holding the bridging trough in its position, consisting of ribs I36 cast ontotrough member I I0 and guiding bolts I31 screwed into side frame plates 95. In orderto expedite removal of by-products from the chambers and to prevent their condensation I near the side seals, steam or tar-free gas may be K blown into the space between the side sealing members 96 and 91,

By sealing each coking chamber flexibly and by retaining the water in the top troughs and tub-doors during motion of the walls and by permanently connecting the side seals to the top troughs, spreading of the walls during coking is made possible, while keeping the chambers gas-tight, and also in case of non-swelling coals which do not require spreading, the advantage.

is gained that the time lost in breaking and remaking the seals is avoided, and heat losses from the chambers are reduced. The bottom seal although it is interrupted when opening the bottom door is re-established in gas-tight manner when closing the 'door and filling it with water.

These advantages make it possible to operate very large coking plants with greatly improved economy in labor and time.

The new spreading mechanism permits motion of a large number of walls in a steady, vibrationless motion without jerking or shaking of the walls, or of the coke while in statu nascendi.

This is of greatest importance because large brick-walls of commercial size, for instance, 16' width and 30' height are very vulnerable.

The screws give common guiding to all walls,

they have huge strength, producing a uniform quiet motion and they have simplicity. The flexibility of the jointed hangers is eliminated.

Eliminated are also the side swaying and the tilting of the walls and their rotation caused by eccentric load of Waste heat outlet, vapor ofitakes and insulating masses at times when the.

each of the chambers has its own individualseals, which must be kept in good condition. The seals are automatic and neither consume time nor require manual labor. They do not create friction which would resist spreading.

Sliding seals which may glue together are avoided. The side seals pass up on the inside of coking chambers of largest size.

the bridging troughs, so that they can expand and contract freely in vertical direction without disturbing the, bridging trough. Motion'of the tube shaped" inflated gasket is a rolling one instead of a gliding and stretching one.

Swelling of the coal during operation is permitted in commercial operation in entire batteries containing pluralities of huge chambers. Warping and buckling. of the walls is thus avoid.- ed. The new arrangement safely guides each wall. individually back to itsv original position.

An undesired characteristic of low volatile coals is the heavy dense coke which'they make, which-is too dense for blast furnace coke. This quality can be avoided by setting the pressure limitation contact so that the spreading motion of the walls begins at such a low swelling pressure, that a more porous coke is produced.

A battery has been produced, which permits the construction of huge plants, consisting of independent batteries, each containing many Each of the batteries is safer than an equivalent number of other ovens, due to its possibility of expansion, and is therefore able to carbonize coals more rapidly and at a lower cost than normal ovens,-

is the merit of the new battery that damage. in

these cases is forestalled.

All spreading screws are located in the open and accessible. In case of verysmall walls the 2 top screws may be omitted. It is possible to keep another wall than the centerwall stationary if desired.

Only 4 chambers are shown in the drawings, but it is intended to use at least 6, but also 8 or 10 in one battery.

The present improvement permits of an additional improvement, which is important for badly swelling low volatile coals. Due to the greater height of fall, the density of the charge in the coking chamber is higher near the bottom than near the top. As a result the swelling pressure of the coal is higher in the lower part of the.

oven, so that the coking speed of the entire oven must be adjusted down to correspond to this 10 cally denser coal.

This can be remedied in the new invention by .first charging the coal and then'immediately thereafter widening the chamber, giving the coal an opportunity to squat down in theoven, with the effect that the variations in density are equalized, the new densities, after the squatting down, obeying the laws of the'behavior of solids in silos and thus being substantially equal over the entire height, this method of equalizing the charge densities being especially efiective if dry coal is used. Thus coking begins with a charge of equal density from top to bottom, resulting in a uniformly porous coke, suitable for blast furnaces and special purposes.

In special cases the coal may be compressed between the walls after theinitial spreading motion has brought uniformity of density to the charge.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and useful and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. A battery of coking ovens having a plurality able with respect to each other and having a plurality of coking chambers interposed between said walls, in which the position of each wall is controlled by screw spindles passing laterally of said walls and by screw nuts attached to each of said walls and surrounding said spindles, said spindles having screw threads of opposite directions and of rising pitches adapted to spread the walls apart and to move them together again, the drives of said spindles being centralized into one common source of power, an automatic device for maximum pressure control being installed into cooperative position with one or more of said screw spindles, said device being adapted to start the motor and widen all coking chambers uniformly during the coking operation thus preventing accumulation of excessive coal-pressure in the chambers.

2. In a battery of coking ovens, having internally heated coking walls, which are relatively movable with respect to each other, means for avoiding excessive coal-pressure consisting in tension shafts for tying adjoining walls to each other, a sensitive tension operated controller in cooperation with at least one of said shafts, said controller being actuated by the stretching of said shaft and means operated by said controller for automatically relaxing the tension in said shafts by increasing the distance between said walls byequal increments, and flexible sealing means adapted for keeping each chamber gastight while said distance is being increased.

3. In a battery of coking ovens, having a plurality of internally heated coking walls, which ar relatively movable with respect to each other and having a plurality of coking chambers interposed between said coking walls, means automatically controlled by the pressure of the coal in said chambers for equally expanding the width of the chambers by motive power during the coking operation without breaking the gas-seals surrounding said chambers, means controlled by the operator for widening thechambers still more after conclusion of the operation adapted to facilitate discharge of the completed coke and means to return said walls to their initial operating position.

4. A coking oven comprising internally heated coking walls, which are relatively movable with respect to each other, each wall being surrounded by an iron frame comprising a lower frame beam, an upper frame beam and two vertical lateral buckstays, a pair of top girders being located at a distance above said walls, said girders being adapted to support said walls, a pair of movabletrucks placed upon said girders, said trucks being adapted for being laterally guided by said girders while moving on said girders, said lateral buckstays having rigid upward extensions fastened to said trucks in laterally fixed positions, adapted to convert said buckstays into fixed beams having higher resistance to deflection.

5. A battery of coking ovens having a, plurality of internally heated coking walls, which are relatively movable with respect to each other and having a plurality of coking chambers sandwiched between said coking walls, in which each of the two coking walls occupying an end-position in the battery is equipped with an insulating wall and an iron retaining grid, all said walls and the two grids being supported in their elevation on movable trucks resting on top girders all coking and insulating walls and grids being fixed in the 12 relative horizontal distances by means of horizontal screw spindles to which they are connected by means of screw nuts, said screw spindles and nuts having increasing pitches adapted upon rotation of the screw spindles to increase or decrease the width of each coking chamber.

6. A battery of coking ovens having a plurality of internally heated coking walls, which are relatively movable with respect to each other and having a plurality of coking chambers sandwiched between said coking walls, in which each of the two coking walls occupying an end-position in the battery is equipped with an insulating wall and an iron retaining grid, all said walls and the two grids being supported in their elevation on movable trucks resting on top girders, all coking and insulating walls and grids being fixed in their relative horizontal distances by means of horizontal screw spindles to which they are connected by means of screw nuts, said screw spindles and nuts having increasing pitches adapted upon rotation of the screw spindles to increase or decrease the wldth of each coking chamber, the screw pitch of the center-wall being zero while the pitches of the adjoining walls increase with their distance from the center-wall, the direction of screws to the left of center-wall being opposite to that of the walls to its right, all threads being adapted upon their simultaneous rotation to spread all walls away from the center-wall and increase the width of all chambers equally.

7. A battery of coking ovens having a plurality of internally heated coking walls, which are relatively movable with respect to each other, and of which each is accessible on its narrow noncoking sides, all walls being assembled below a portal-structure, comprisingtwo vertical towers and two horizontal girders resting on top of said towers, said walls being movably suspended from said girders for horizontal motion at the same elevation, the vertical position of the coking faces of each of said walls being fixed in its vertical plane by horizontal distance regulating screw spindle, means threaded into screw nuts attached to said walls, said screw spindle means connecting each of said walls with at least one of said towers.

8. A coking .oven with internally heated walls, which are relatively movable with respect to each other, in which each of said walls is suspended from two movable trucks, guided by and supported on horizontal girders, resting on vertical supporting towers and adapted to maintain the walls at a constant height, the coking face of each wall being movably maintained in its vertical alignment by at least four horizontal sets of screw spindles, extending substantially from the four corners of each wall and connecting to four driving devices, fastened to one of the vertical supporting towers and by two additional sets of screw spindles, attached to the spreading trucks and extending from them to driving devices located in positions above said driving devices fastened to said supporting towers, all said driving devices being connected with each other and centralized into one motor drive, located in one of said towera.

9, In a battery, of brick-coking ovens having hollow internally heated coking walls, which are relatively movable with respect to each other, each of said walls being surrounded by an individual iron frame, and having carbonizing chambers, which are sandwiched between said walls and which are individually sealed by a continuous ring of sealing means which completely surrounds the outer narrow faces of the chamber, and in which said frames as well as :said sealing means are'exposed to and accessible from the atmosphere, and in which said sealing means comprise a removable charg ng and a removable discharging door, means for varying the distance between adjacent walls, said means consisting of screw spindles acting upon the iron frames surroundin the walls and of additional spindles acting upon upper extensions of said frames, all' said screw spindles having a central drive, said drive being operable by an automatic coal-pressure limitin controlling device or by hand,

10. In a battery of brick-built coking ovens having hollow internally heated coking walls which are relatively movable with respect to each other, each or" said walls'being surrounded by an individual iron frame, means for varying the distance between adjacent walls, said-means consisting of screw spindles acting upon the iron frames surrounding said walls, the connecting link between said wall frame and each of said screw spindles comprising a threaded nut fastened to said frame by means of a flexible-co nection, adapted to permit irregularities in the shape and the heat expansion of the frames. 11. In a battery of coking ovens having internally heated walls, which are relatively movable with respect to each other, side sealing devices, means adapted to press said side sealing devices upon the heated walls in gas-tight connection, top sealing devices adapted to permit unobstruch ed cleaning of said side sealing devices and comprising flexible continuous water troughs surrounding the upper ends of the side sealing devices in gas-tight contact with said side-sealing atlases ovens, comprising a plurality of internally heated ing a plurality of chambers sandwiched between said walls, each of said walls being accessible from the atmosphere on its outer narrow noncoking faces, gauging means responsive to the devices, and meansforminggas-tight connections between said top sealing devices and the heate walls. 7

12. In a baking oven comprising internally heated walls, which are relatively movable with respect to each other and a coking chamber sand wichedbetween said walls and means for spreading said walls apart, flexible side sealing devices and flexible water-containing sealing troughs for I the top charging opening, comprising at their extreme ends flexible semi-circular return bends,

said side sealing devices extending upwardly to the elevation of the top-edges of said return bends, said return bends being of such ample radius that they surround said side sealing devices, and an elastic packing body, inserted laterally between the flexible return bends and the upper ends of the flexible side seals.

13. A battery of narrow, high-speed coking 55 wall, pressure in said chambers, means actuated by said gauging means for causing said walls to recede from each other during coking operation upon increase of said coal pressure, and sealing means for keeping each of said chambers sealed against the atmosphere during the recession of the walls, said sealing means being accessible from the atmosphere.

i 14. A battery of coking ovens having a plurality of internally heated cokingwalls, which are mov- I able with respect to each other and having a plurality of coking chambers interposed between said walls, in which the position of each wall is controlled by screw spindles passing laterally of said walls and by screw nuts attached tosaid walls and surrounding said spindles, said spindles having screw threads of rising pitches adapted to spread the walls apart and to movethem together'again, the drives of said spindles, being centralized into one common source of power, an automatic device for maximum pressure con trol being installed into cooperative position with one or more of said screw spindles, said device being'adapted to start the motor and widen all coking chambers uniformly during the coking operation thus preventing accumulation of exces- V sive coal-pressure in the chambers.

15. In a battery of brick-coking ovens having hollow internally heated coking walls, which are relatively movable with respect to each other, each of said walls being surrounded by an individual iron frame, and having carbonizing cham- Gil bers, which are sandwiched between said walls.

and which are individually sealed by a continuous ring of sealing means which completely surrounds the outer narrow faces of the chamber, and in which said frames as well as said sealing 5 means are exposed to and accessible from the atmosphere, and in which said sealing means comprise a removable charging anda removable discharging door, means for varying the distance between adjacent walls, said means consisting of screw spindles acting upon the iron frame surrounding the walls, all said screw spindles having a central drive, said drive being operable by an automatic coal-pressure limiting controlling de vice or by hand.

. FRANZ PUENING.

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