US2452454A - Device for facilitating stoker installations - Google Patents

Description

R. F. GRAHAM 2,452,454

DEVICE FOR FACILITATING STOKER' INSTALLATIONS Filed April 16, 1945 FIG-:1

int enfor- E OY F. GRAHAM by: I AI orpey Patented Oct. 26, 1948 DEVICE FOR FACILITATING STOKER INSTALLATION S Roy F. Graham, University City, Mo, assignor to Stok-A-Fire Company, Inc., University City, Mo, a corporation of Missouri Application April 16, 1945, Serial No. 588,640

2 Claims.

This invention relates to stokers generally, but more particularly to stokers of the kind that are intended to be used and installed in furnaces already in place, and has for its principal object the production of such a stoker that will have means associated therewith and readily adjustable to most conveniently install the stoker in furnaces of a Wide range of sizes and shapes.

Another important object of this invention is to so construct a stoker of the kind described, that the retort or hearth end of the same will have elements associated therewith and carried thereby and adjustably movable relative thereto, so that the spacing apart between the free ends of said elements and said hearth may be changed at will at the time of installation into a furnace, and whereby the ends of said elements will engage the interior wall of practically any size and shape of furnace that is apt to be encountered in course of installation of the stoker.

A further object of my invention is to so construct a stoker of the kind described, that the hearth may be provided with rods pivotally carried thereby at spaced intervals about the periphery of said hearth, so that said rods are swingable in a horizontal plane to various angles relative to one another, to snugly engage at their outer ends with the inner surface of the enclosing wall of the furnace, and when a layer of refractory material has been applied on said rods, the hearth will be supported in place firmly and permanently.

An added object of my invention is to so form the adjustable supporting rods for the hearth, that their free ends will be shaped into hooks that extend upwardly toward the top of the retort, so that when a screen is superimposed on said spaced rods and a layer of cementitious material applied 'thereover to extend to adjacent the top of said retort, the hooks will be embedded and interlocked within the body of cement to more efliciently hold them together as a structural unit, and prevent the likelihood of accidental displacement of the parts thereat.

The invention has among its other objects the production of a stoker of the kind described, that will be relatively simple and easy to install, and which will be otherwise satisfactor and efiicient for use wherever deemed applicable.

Many other objects and advantages of the construction shown and described will be obvious to those skilled in the art to which this invention appertains, as will be apparent from the disclosures herein given.

To this end, my invention consists in the novel construction, arrangement, construction and combination of parts herein shown and described, and the method of using the same, as will be more clearly pointed out in the followin specifications.

In the drawings, wherein like reference characters represent like or corresponding parts throughout the views,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a stoker with its hearth end installed within a furnace, some of the parts being shown in section; and

Figure 2 is a top plan View, partly in section, of the same, but not showing the cement in place.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, wherein I have illustrated a preferred embodiment of my invention, there is shown a stoker of any suitable shape and construction, having its coal or other solid fuel hopper I at one end and its retort or hearth 2 at the other end, said hearth formed with an outwardly projecting radial flange l3.

A casing 3 interconnects said hopper and hearth and the coal is automatically fed to the latter from said hopper by any suitable means such as a conveyor screw, for example, rotatably driven by any source of motive energy such as a motor or the like. The coal is pushed along the casing and is discharged upwardly at the top of the hearth in the well-known manner, and in order to more eliiciently support combustion, air may be forced through the casing, independently of the coal, and associating therewith at a point adjacent the top of the hearth.

These stokers are especially intended for use Where a furnace is already in place, in order to save the expense of constructing a combustion chamber anew, and inasmuch as these already ex" isting furnaces may be of practically any size and shape, the problem of securing the hearth end of the stoker within the same is an everpresent one. Obviously extra cutting and fitting, or alterations generally, while out on the job, are especially expensive, and it is in order to minimize the time and labor of installation into the furnace and cost of extra or added parts for the same, that I have so constructed the stoker that this job is rapid, easy and of minimum expense for labor and material.

Although the furnace may be round or square, big or small, or irregular in transverse cross-section the hearth end of my stoker may be readily installed into plac in all situations, as will now be set forth. 7

A series or rods 4, 4 are movably secured at the retort or hearth end 2 of the stoker, said rods being arranged about said hearth at spaced intervals about the periphery of the latter and at a suitable distance below the top face of the latter, so as to permit the placement of a suitable thickness of refractory cement 5 between said rods to a slight distance below the said top face of the hearth, say, about an inch below said top face and preferably to contact the under face of said flange 13, so that said hearth and cement are interlocked as a fixed unit. A collar 61 may be formed to be removably seated or mounted on said hearth .2 to receive said rod ends, and may be provided with apertures through which said rods may beinserted, and the outer ends of said rods at said hearth, may be threaded so as to adjustably receive tightening nuts 7, if desired.

These rods may be swung in substantially a horizontal plane and held adjusted in place there after, and the outer ends of said rods may project outwardly more or less radially as indicated, said outermost ends of the rods formed into hooks 18 which are preferably bent upwardly and thence inwardly as shown, to thereby enable them to be grasped at their outer ends and swung into con tact with the furnace wall, said hook ends also serving to more eficiently interlock with said layer of cement 5 applied thereabove.

In installing my improved stoker, the latte is moved adjacent the furnace (which has been prepared in the well-known manner to receive such installation, by removing any interfering parts or elements previously in place in the furnace), and said hearth 2 is inserted into place within the furnace so that the vertical axis of the hearth substantially coincides with the vertical axis of the furnace combustion chamber, as shown.

The collar 5 with the rods carried thereby may be mounted on said hearth in advance of or during or after such insertion of the hearth into the furnace, depending upon the conditions at hand, and which manner is most convenient for the installing workman at the time. A support 3 may be arranged beneath said hearth to hold the latter at the desired elevation, and screws W are provided for adjustably levelling up the hearth to proper height. This levelling means may be either temporary and removed after the installation has been completed, or if desired, said levelling means may be permanently left in place.

The rods 4,4 are manually adjust-ably swung so that their outer or free ends engage or jam the interior of the furnace wall, and the nuts 7 may be tightened home after said adjustment, to prevent any likelihood of accidental displacement of said rods thereafter.

Foot rests H may be provided beneath the hopper i to adjust the stoker so that it is level and to insure proper operation of the various stoker parts.

After the rods have been swung into engagement with the interior of the furnace thereat so as to substantially jam and lock the retort or hearth in place, a sheet or screen 12 is prepared and placed on said rods between said retort and furnace wall, and then the layer of refractory cement 5 is poured or otherwise applied onto said screen to a height or depth to reach to slightly below the top face of said retort, say, to about an inch below the latter.

This mass of cement will have the hooked ends of the rods embedded therein and will tend to hold the rods and the top of said hearth spread apart vertically, to more firmly interlock said members in place and prevent displacement of the same. The cement will seal off the hearth so that the sole passage for air and coal is upwardly through the hearth, and the stoker will operate in a most efiicient manner.

It may be mentioned at this point that the full lines of the supporting rods, as shown in Fig. 2, illustrate the installation of the stoker into a furnace having the circular transverse cross-section of body shown, while the dotted line positions of said rods indicate their adjusted positions to fit the hearth into a furnace having a squared transverse cross-sectional body. Other cross-section shapes of furnace combustion chambers would require that the rods be adjusted otherwise than shown, and to that purpose the rods may be swung in the horizontal plane, at angles that will bring their outer ends into snug engagement with the inner surface of the bounding wall of the furnace.

Having thus described my invention, it is obvious that various immaterial modifications may be made in the same without departing from the spirit of my invention; hence I do not wish to he understood as limiting myself to the exact form, arrangement, construction and combination of parts, or the method set forth, except as limited by the state of the invention to which this invention appertains, and the claims hereunto appended.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. The combination with a stoker having a hearth for substantially permanent installation within a furnace and adapted to be spaced from the interior wall of the latter, of a series of .rods pivotally carried at said hearth and provided with upwardly extending hooks at their free ends for grasping thereat for manipulation to enable said series of rods to be movable in substantially a horizontal plane to adjustably vary the distances between their free ends and said hearth, whereby the hooks may be brought into contact with the interior wall of differently sized and shaped furnaces.

2. A furnace installation comprising a stoker having a retort at one end for placement within a furnace and having a radial flange adjacent its top, and rods each pivotally carried at one of their ends by said retort so that the other ends may be adjust-ably swun about said pivots to engage the interior wall of said furnace, said rods being mounted below the top of said retort so that .a layer of cement may be superimposedon said rods from the interior wall of saidfurnace to said retort and of a height to substantially said radial flange to anchor the retort in place.

ROY F. GRAHAM.

' REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 908,805 Rogers Jan. 5, 1909 1,035,722 Mugler et al. Aug. 13, 1912 1,615,789 Fisher Jan. 25, 192.7 1,842,359 Cross Jan. 19., 1932 1,858,683 Parker May 17, 19.32 1,910,233 Blair May 23, 1933 2,123,397 Bohmker July 12, .1938 2,143,898 Ostrin Jan. 17, 19.39 2,207,992 Steele July 16, 19.40 2,358,750 Walker et al. Sept. 19, 1944

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