US3380408A

US3380408A - Air supply to chain grate

Info

Publication number: US3380408A
Application number: US633343A
Authority: US
Inventors: Russell C Rivers
Original assignee: Riley Power Inc
Current assignee: Riley Power Inc
Priority date: 1967-03-30
Filing date: 1967-03-30
Publication date: 1968-04-30
Anticipated expiration: 1985-04-30

Description

pril 30 19 RIVERS 3 AIR SUPPLY To CHAIN ATE 380,408

Fil

ed March 30, 1967 2 Sheet eat 1 'IIIllIllllllllmllllllllllmmnml IllIIIlIIIIlIllllllllnulmmnm rd; I WWMMAAQY? INVENTOR Russell C. Rivers l 1'4, Hfio e April 30, 1968 R. c. RIVERS AIR SUPPLY TO CHAIN GRATE Filed March so, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet i3 5 w M v T. N I mR 7 4 C 6 u 7 e a 3 u a 8% 4 H R w w a a M 7 a 9 8 n 8 a x n m/v/o 5 u Z 2 8 A w u 1 4 n n H W HHH IL Thhl uu w d z 4/: p Hr! J m 7 e 4 a 7 5 8 n United States Patent 3,380,408 AIR SUPPLY T0 CHAIN GRATE Russell C. Rivers,'Boylston, Mass., assiguor to Riley Stoker Corporation, Worcester, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 558,195, May 31, 1966. This application Mar. 30, 1967, Ser. No. 633,343

Claims. (Cl. 110-40) This is a continuation-impart of my patent application Serial Number 558,195, filed May 31, 1966, now abanoned, which is a continuation-in-part of my patent application Serial Number 404,072, filed October 15, 1964, now abandoned, which, in turn, is a divi ion of patent application Serial Number 95,667, filed March 14, 1961, now Patent No. 3,169,498 dated February 16, 1965. This invention relates to a stoker and, more particularly, to apparatus arranged to burn solid fuel on a traveling grate.

It is common practice to dispose of refuse, such as garbage and rubbish, by burning it, and the traveling grate is ideally suited for this purpose because of its selfcleaning function. However, the burning of such material as well as other solid fuels on a traveling grate sometimes presents problems that are not encountered in the burning of ordinary fuel by this method. Among other problems, the accurate control of the division of air to the various parts of the grate is quite important. These and other difficulties experienced with the prior art devices have been obviated in a novel manner by the present invention.

It is, therefore, an outstanding object of the invention to provide a stoker of a novel unitary construction.

A still further object of this invention is the provision of a stoker having a novel ducting arrangement for air to the various zones.

With these and other objects in view, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the invention resides in the combination of parts set forth in the specification and covered by the claims appended hereto.

The character of the invention, however, may be best understood by reference to one of its structural forms as illustrated by the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of an incinerator incorporating the principles of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a portion of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken transversely of the stoker,

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view of a portion of the invention taken transversely of the stoker, and

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion of the apparatus.

Referring first to FIG. 1, which shows the general features of the invention, the incinerator, indicated generally by the reference numeral 10, is shown as consisting of a furnace 11 and a grate 12. The furnace is provided with a hopper 13 into which refuse and garbage is dumped and a chute 14 extends downwardly therefrom toward the grate 12. The furnace is provided with a roof 15 and a floor 16 joined by side walls 17 and 18, the walls defining a combustion chamber 19 at the bottom of which lies the grate 12. At the end of the combustion chamber opposite the chute 14 is an ash pit 21 into which the grate discharges. At the end of the combustion chamber is arranged a fire wall 22 over which gas passes on its way to a stack (not shown). The grate 12 consists of a conditioning section 23 and a burning section 24 both of which are chain grates. The burning section underlies the combustion chamber 19 and rests on the floor 16, while the conditioning section 23 underlies the chute 14 at one end and its other end extends downwardly adjacent the upper surface of the burning section. The upper end of the conditioning section 23 rests on a supporting structure 25 and from this end extends a dust hopper 26. At its other end the conditioning section rests on an abutment 27 extending upwardly from the end of the burning section 24. Three channel beams 28 extend across the conditioning section 23 and divide it into a number of air zones or chambers, each of which is provided with a damper 29. In a similar manner, the burning section 24 is provided with deep I channels 31 dividing the chamber between the upper and lower runs of the chain grate into a series of zones or chambers, each of which is provided with its own damper 32. The conditioning section 23 is provided with an endless grate 33 which extends around idler sprockets 34 at one end and driven sprockets 35 at the other end. In a similar manner, the burning section 24 is provided with an endless grate 36 which extends around idler sprockets 37 at one end and driven sprockets 38 at the other end.

Referring now to FIG. 2, which shows a perspective view of the burning section 24, it can be seen that the apparatus is provided with

steel side walls

39 and 41 between which the endless grate 36 lies. At one end of the wall 39 is mounted a bearing 42 carrying the shaft on which is mounted the driven sprockets 38, while at the other end the wall supports a bearing 43 and the shaft associated with the idler sprockets 37. Similar bearings are mounted in the other wall 41. The wall 39 is provided with clean-out doors '44. Mounted on top of the side wall 39 is an abutment 45 having an inclined upper surface 46 on which the conditioning section 23 rests. The side wall 41 is provided with the abutment 27 having an inclined upper surface 48 to carry the lower end of the conditioning section. The wall 41 and the abutment 27 are both constructed as hollow ducts and serve to carry air to the conditioning and burning sections. A seal 49 extends from side to side between the two

abutments

45 and 27 and extends vertically between the conditioning section 23 and the surface of the burning section 24.

FIG. 3 shows an enlarged view of a section of the grate looking in the direction of movement of the chain. It should be particularly observed the manner in which a vertically-depending web 71 of the clip 63 is attached to a plate 64 of the grate bar by means of a readily-releasable pin 72. The presence of the apertures 73 for air flow are particularly evident in this view. The driven sprocket wheel 38 is shown as engaging chain 53 and it is particularly evident in this figure the manner in which

links

66 and 67 are provided with

lugs

68 and 69 which press against the rearward side of an intermediate web 57.

FIG. 4, which is a section through the wall 41 of the apparatus, shows that the wall 41 is actually a duct having a top wall 75, a bottom wall 76, an outer wall 77, and an inner wall 78. The inner wall 78 is provided with a large aperture 79 leading into one of the chambers. Across the aperture resides the damper 32. Across the aperture 79 extends a bridge 81 which is pivotally attached to the inner end of a control rod 83 which is also carried in a bearing 82 mounted onv the outer wall 77. Welded to the inwardly-directed surface of the damper 32 is a flange formed by an angle iron 40 which, because of engagement with the vertical wall of the air zone 70, prevents the damper from rotating when the control rod 83 is rotated. The outer wall, incidentally, is provided with an access door 84. Surrounding the control rod 83 and welded to the damper 32 is a tube 85 which extends through the bushing 82 in the wall 77 and is carried thereby. The control rod 83 is threaded and engages a nut 86 welded within the tube 85. The outer end of the control rod is provided with a hand wheel 87 which is keyed to it. Fastened to the wall 77 is a pointer 88 and formed in the outer surface of the tube, particularly in 3 the area of the wall 77 are shallow grooves 89 which are filled with paint to give an indication to the operator of the position of the damper aided by the pointer 88. The interior of the wall 41, which acts as an air duct, is connected to the force draft fan (not shown) of the furnace so that the entire length of the wall 41 is provided with air under pressure and an individual damper 32 is provided for each chamber or zone of the grate. The wall 41, in turn, is connected to the hollow abutment 27 so that air passes therethrough to the interior of the conditioning section 23.

FIG. 5 shows the details of the manner in which the control rod 83 is pivotally attached to the bridge 81. The rod is provided with an end portion of reduced diameter that extends loosely through an aperture 91 in the vertical wall 92 of the bridge. A castellated nut 93 is threaded on the end portion of the rod and is locked in place by a cotter pin in spaced relationship to the shoulder between the end portion and the rest of the rod, the spacing being such as to allow free pivotal motion between the rod and the bridge with little axial motion.

It is obvious that minor changes may be made in the form and construction of the invention without departing from the material spirit thereof. It is not, however, desired to confine the invention to the exact form herein shown and described, but it is desired to include all such as properly come within the scope claimed.

The invention having been thus described, what is claimed as new and desired to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A traveling grate, comprising an endless chain, grate clips fastened to the chain to define upper and lower runs, an air chamber between the runs, a first vertical wall extending parallel to the chain and closing one side of the chamber, a second vertical wall spaced from and parallel to the first vertical wall, the two walls defining an air duct, an aperture through the first wall through which air may pass from the air duct to the air chamber, a support extending across the aperture, a control rod extending through the first wall and rotatably mounted in the said support, a tube slidably carried by the rod, a damper carried by the tube at a right angle thereto, and threaded means extending between the tube and rod so that when the rod is rotated the tube and damper move toward or away from the aperture.

2. A traveling grate as recited in claim 1, wherein indicia are provided on the outer surface of the tube to indicate the position of the damper relative to the aperture.

3. A traveling grate as recited in claim 1, wherein the damper is fixedly connected to the tube.

4. A traveling grate as recited in claim 1, wherein means is provided to prevent rotation of the damper when the control rod is rotated.

5. A traveling grate as recited in claim 1, wherein the said means consists of a flange extending at a right angle to the damper and a vertical wall forming an air zone in the air chamber.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,518,397 12/1924 Duncan 110-40 1,656,179 l/1928 Duncan 110-40 FREDERICK L. MATTESON, 111., Primary Examiner.

H. B. RAMEY, Assistant Examiner.

Claims

1. A TRAVELING GRATE, COMPRISING AN ENDLESS CHAIN, GRATE CLIPS FASTENED TO THE CHAIN TO DEFINE UPPER AND LOWER RUNS, AN AIR CHAMBER BETWEEN THE RUNS, A FIRST VERTICAL WALL EXTENDING PARALLEL TO THE CHAIN AND CLOSING ONE SIDE OF THE CHAMBER, A SECOND VERTICAL WALL SPACED FROM AND PARELLEL TO THE FIRST VERTICAL WALL, THE TWO WALLS DEFINING AN AIR DUCT, AN APERTURE THROUGH THE FIRST WALL THROUGH WHICH AIR MAY PASS FROM THE AIR DUCT TO THE AIR CHAMBER, A SUPPORT EXTENDING ACROSS THE APERTURE, A CONTROL ROD EXTENDING THROUGH THE FIRST WALL AND ROTATABLY MOUNTED IN THE SAID SUPPORT, A TUBE SLIDABLY CARRIED BY THE ROD, A DAMPER CARRIED BY THE TUBE AT A RIGHT ANGLE THERETO, AND THREADED MEANS EXTENDING BETWEEN THE TUBE AND ROD SO THAT WHEN THE ROD IS ROTATED THE TUBE AND DAMPER MOVE TOWARD OR AWAY FROM THE APERTURE.