US3603573A

US3603573A - Furnace removal

Info

Publication number: US3603573A
Application number: US1179A
Authority: US
Inventors: John J Gill
Original assignee: Pennsylvania Engineering Corp
Current assignee: Pennsylvania Engineering Corp
Priority date: 1970-01-07
Filing date: 1970-01-07
Publication date: 1971-09-07
Anticipated expiration: 1988-09-07

Abstract

A shaft-mounted rotatable furnace vessel or converter is provided with bearing housings journaling its shafts that are adapted to be raised and lowered on jack mounts or stands of a pair of spaced-apart stationary support piers. A driven trunnion shaft of the vessel or converter is provided with a conventional separable part type of coupling connecting it to a motor drive mechanism. Each jack mount or stand has a wedge-shaped or inclined slide part carried by a guide member for endwise guided movement, as effected by a reciprocating type of fluid motor operatively connected to one end of the slide part. Each bearing housing has a slide or wedge-shaped portion cooperating with an associated slide part and adapted to be raised and lowered by endwise movement of the slide part. An end retainer having a pair of spaced-apart portions projects upwardly from the jack mount adjacent an end thereof on which the motor is positioned and through which the motor is adapted to operatively extend in its connection to the slide part. This end retainer has an abutment portion to abut one end of an associated bearing housing; it cooperates with an opposite end retainer that is removably secured on the jack mount to abut an adjacent end of the associated bearing housing. The upwardly projecting end retainers positively or securely retain or mount an associated bearing housing with respect to the slide part. The end retainers also function to limit the maximum endwise movement of the slide part in either direction. The inclined or wedge-shaped slide portion of each bearing housing is complementary with the slide part to raise and lower the associated housing when the slide part is reciprocated by the fluid motor. The structure enables a converter vessel or furnace to be raised with respect to its piers or stands, in order that a transport car may be wheeled into position between the piers and stands and into a cooperating position under the vessel, that the support or weight of the vessel may be transferred from the stands to the car, and that the vessel with its bearing housings may be transported or moved from an operating station to a repair or maintenance station and, if desired, from the latter station to a hold station, and then returned to an operating station. The car has means for moving it into an aligned position with respect to the bottom of a converter vessel at any of the stations and for endwise moving the vessel after the second-mentioned end retainer of each of the pair of bearing housings has been removed.

Description

it ties tet [72] Inventor ,llohn .ll. Gil] lBeaver, lPa. 21 Appl No. 1,179 [22] Filed Jim. 7, 1970 Division of Ser. No. 66,tlt95, Aug. 29, 1967, Pat. No. 3504,4121 [45] Patented Sept. 7,1971 [73] Assigncc Pennsylvania Engineering Corporation New Castle, Pa.

[54] FURNACE REMOVAL 11 Claims, 9 Drawing Figs.

[521 U.S.Cl 266/3611 [511 int. Cl (1211c 5/ 12 [50] ll ield all Search 266/34 R, 35, 36 P [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 253,046 1/1882 Henderson 266/36 P 3,312,544 4/1967 McCready eta]. 266/35 3,362,700 1/1968 Metz et al 266/35 3536,310 10/1970 Kalbet al 266/36P Primary ExaminerGerald A. Dost Attorney-Green, McCallister & Miller ABSTRACT: A shaft-mounted rotatable furnace vessel or converter is provided with bearing housings journaling its shafts that are adapted to be raised and lowered on jack mounts or stands of a pair of spaced-apart stationary support piers. A driven trunnion shaft of the vessel or converter is provided with a conventional separable part type of coupling connecting it to a motor drive mechanism. Each jack mount or stand has a wedge-shaped or inclined slide part carried by a guide member for endwise guided movement, as effected by a reciprocating type of fluid motor operatively connected to one end of the slide part. Each bearing housing has a slide or wedge-shaped portion cooperating with an associated slide part and adapted to be raised and lowered by endwise movement of the slide part. An end retainer having a pair of spacedapart portions projects upwardly from the jack mount adjacent an end thereof on which the motor is positioned and through which the motor is adapted to operatively extend in its connection to the slide part. This end retainer has an abutment portion to abut one end of an associated bearing housing; it cooperates with an opposite end retainer that is removably secured on the jack mount to abut an adjacent end of the associated bearing housing The upwardly projecting end retainers positively or securely retain or mount an associated bearing housing with respect to the slide part. The end retainers also function to limit the maximum endwise movement of the slide part in either direction The inclined or wedge-shaped slide portion of each bearing housing is complementary with the slide part to raise and lower the associated housing when the slide part is reciprocated by the fluid motor. The structure enables a converter vessel or furnace to be raised with respect to its piers or stands, in order that a transport car may be wheeled into position between the piers and stands and into a cooperating position under the vessel, that the support or weight of the vessel may be transferred from the stands to the car, and that the vessel with its bearing housings may be transported or moved from an operating station to a repair or maintenance station and, if desired, from the latter station to a hold station, and then returned to an operating station. The car has means for moving it into an aligned position with respect to the bottom of a converter vessel at any of the stations and for endwise moving the vessel after the secondmentioned end retainer of each of the pair of bearing housings has been removed.

PATENTED SEP 71971 3,603,573

sum 1 BF 3 i i A JNVENTOR.

JOHN J GILL H/S A 7' TOR/VEVS PATENTED SEP 71am SHEET 2 [1F 3 m W W W PATENTEUSEP 71ml snmalnr 3 INVENTOR.

' JOHN J. GILL 1 QYCW M H/S ATTORNEYS FIJIIIWACIE ItlEMltDi/AI.

This application is a divisional application of Ser. No. 664,095, filed Aug. 29, 1967, and now Pat. No. 3,504,421.

This invention relates to facilitating the handling or transfer of a furnace vessel in the nature of an oxygen converter that is rotatably shaft mounted and particularly, to the mounting and dismounting of a converter vessel on its stands in such a manner that it may be transported and supported at trans ported positions with its bearing housings in place or in journaling positions on its trunnion shafts.

Those skilled in the art recognize that BOE, oxygen con verter vessels and the like are subjected to intense heat in the refining of metal, such as steel, and thus have to be periodi cally repaired and particularly, have to have their linings replaced from time to time. In this connection, it is ad vantageous to transport or move the vessel from an operating station at which it is rotatably or turnably supported on piers and operatively connected to a driving mechanism, to a maintenance, repair or relining station. In this manner, the vessel can be readily repaired at a remote station location and held at such a location or moved to a holding station location until it is again required. In the meantime, another vessel may be moved to the operating station, mounted in an operating relation and used while the first vessel is being repaired.

It has been found to be advantageous to remove and transport a vessel and then to support it at a relining or holding station with its bearing housings in place on or in a journaled relation with respect to its trunnion shafts. This protects the bearing surfaces from the introduction of dirt and grit and simplifies mounting and dismounting of a vessel at the various sta tions. The present invention deals with procedure and apparatus for accomplishing such a purpose.

It has thus been an object of the invention to devise new and improved procedure for handling a furnace vessel and particularly, for dismounting and mounting it with respect to piers or stands and for transporting or moving it from one station to another.

Another object of the invention has been to devise new and improved apparatus for positioning or mounting a furnace vessel or converter on supporting stands which will facilitate removal of the vessel from the stands and transportation of the vessel after removal.

Another object of the invention has been to provide an improved mounting arrangement for vessel housings which will enable the vessel to be removed from its stands with its bearing housings in place on its trunnion shafts.

A further object of the invention has been to provide jack mount means for raising and lowering bearing housings of a furnace vessel that will enable the vessel to be raised and lowered with respect to its stands and to be endwise removed and inserted with respect to the stands.

These and other objects of the invention will appear to those skilled in the art from the illustrated embodiment, the description and the claims.

In the drawings, FIG. I is a somewhat schematic isometric view in elevation of an embodiment of the invention and showing a system, apparatus and procedure for handling a furnace vessel; in the right-hand portion of this figure, a furnace vessel with its bearing housings journaled in place is shown with its weight supported on a wheeled car or truck for movement to a repair or maintenance station; the left portion of this figure illustrates the vessel as it is transported from one station to another.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged end view in elevation of the vessel of FIG. I and in the supported position of the right-hand portion of FIG. I.

FIG. 3 is a greatly enlarged perspective view in elevation illustrating details of the construction of each bearing housing, its jack mount as well as means for removably securing it in position on the jack mount.

FIG. 3A is a fragmcntal side view in elevation of a righthand portion of the apparatus of FIG. 3 particularly illustrating motor means for reciprocating or actuating a slide part of the jack mount; this figure is slightly enlarged with respect to FIG. 3.

FIG. 3B is a fragmental side view in elevation and in partial section taken through the jack apparatus of FIG. 3 and showing the bearing housing in its journaling relation on a trunnion shaft; this figure is on the scale of FIG. 3A and particularly illustrates details of the construction of the bearing housing and its associatedjack mount.

FIG. 4 is a greatly reduced plan view illustrating an operating layout that may be employed in connection with the invention.

FIG. 5 is a reduced side view in elevation showing a furnace vessel in a mounted position on piers at a repair station, such as illustrated in the floor plan or layout of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a fragmental end view on the scale of and similar to FIG. 2, but showing the vessel and its bearing housings raised to a maximum upper or vertical position by their jack mounts as a preliminary step in the dismounting or mounting of a vessel with respect to its associated stands.

And, FIG. 7 is an end view on the scale of FIG. 6 showing how a vessel and its bearing housings are endwise removed from associated stands and jack mounts.

In carrying out the invention, a converter vessel It] having oppositely extending trunnion shafts I31: and I3b and associated bearing housing A and A, is mounted through the agency of jack mounts of stationary stands 30 and 36 on a pair of spaced-apart pier structures or vertical stands I5 and 16 for operation, such as at one of the stations of area C of FIG. 3 for normal metal-refining utilization. At least one of the shafts, such as 13!), is separately coupled through a partible drive coupling B to any suitable conventional motor drive mechanism, such as illustrated to the right in FIG. I. When the vessel It) is to be removed from the piers I5 and I6 and their associated stationary or fixed stands 30 and 30, the vessel is raised by the jack mounts and its bearing housings to an upper position, such as illustrated in FIG. 05. A wheeled truck or car (it) for transporting the vessel It) is then moved on a trackway 17 into position between piers I5 and I6 and the associated stands beneath the vessel and in alignment therewith to receive it. At this time, the jack mounts may be lowered a slight distance that is lesser than its previously raised position to rest on the car and thus transfer main support of the vessel to the car.

After the transfer of the support of the vessel It) to a car, such as 60 of FIG. ll, the bearing housings A and A may be moved endwise out of position with respect to their stands and their jack mounts by, as shown particularly in FIG. 7, unbolting and removing an end retainer part 50 of each housing assembly. At this time, the vessel I0 may then be moved, in a manner such as indicated in FIGS. I and i, from an operating station area C to a repair or relining station area D. For this purpose, any suitable type of wheeled car as may be employed. The illustrated car is provided with trucks 62 that are rotatable with respect to the rails of a transverse operating station track I7 or I7 to align with the rails of a longitudinal track I8 for movement to an aligned position in front of a relining station area D or from the relining station area D to a holding station area. The trucks 62 of the car 60 are again rotated in moving them out of alignment with the rails of Iongitudinal traclt Id into alignment with the rails of transverse track I9 or 19 at station area D. The car so may, if desired, be provided with vessel lift cylinders or fluid motors at to pro vide better flexibility of utilization for different heights of piers at the various station areas.

It is contemplated, in accordance with the invention, that a vessel It) (or will be mounted on its bearing housings at a relining or hold station in the same manner as at an operating station. Also, jack mounts may be provided at the various stations to facilitate the insertion and removal of a wheeled car 60 and the transfer of the support of the converter vessel between the car and the piers or stands at the station involved.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, a vessel typically may be provided with a rounded bottom shell portion 10a and such bottom shell portion may, in turn, be provided with bottom stands 66 secured thereto, as by welding. However, if desired, such bottom vessel stands 66 may be mounted or carried on piston rods 65 of fluid or hydraulic lift motors 64 of the wheeled car 60. The vessel 10 is shown provided with an encircling trunnion support ring 10b from which a pair of trunnion shafts or

pins

13a or 13b extend for rotatably carrying the vessel. The vessel of FIG. 1 is also shown provided with a pouring nozzle 11 and an open mouth cap 12 for partially closing off its charging opening and permitting the insertion of an oxygen blow lance.

The vessel 10 of FIG. 10 is shown with its trunnion shaft 13b secured to a driven part 20 of a separable or partible coupling B. It will be noted that the driven part 20 cooperates with a drive part 21 of the coupling B, and that the driving part 21 is secured on a stud shaft 22 that is driven through a final speedreducing unit 23. The unit 23 is mounted on a platform portion 16a of the pier 16. The final speed-reducer unit 23 is, itself, driven through a flexible coupling 24 and a secondary or dual driven speed-reducer unit 25. Electric motors 27 positioned at opposite ends of a supplemental platform 28 drive individual primary speed-reducer units 26 which units, in turn, are coupled together by and drive the dual unit 25 which is also mounted on the platform 28.

When a converter vessel 10 is to be removed from an operating station, such as illustrated in FIG. 1, securing means between the parts 20 and 21 of the partible coupling B is first removed so that the vessel may be raised and lowered on its

trunnion shafts

13a and 13b, with and by its bearing housings or assemblies A and A. It will be noted, as particularly shown in FIG. 3, that each bearing housing or assembly consists of a lower part 35 and an upper part 36 that have opposed

flanges

35d and 36d that are secured together by bolts 37 to mount them on and receive an associated trunnion shaft within bearing bore b. Each stand 30 and 30 may be of the same construction or of slightly different construction, as shown in FIG. 1, but each has an upper platform or plate member 32 of the same construction for supporting an associated jack mount. The jack mount, in addition to including base or platform member 32, also includes a guide member 33 secured on the platform member 32, and an endwise movable or reciprocating slide or operating wedge part 34 that has a substantially wedge-shaped upper face 34b. A reciprocating lift motor 47 and a pair of opposed, vertically extending or upright end retainers 40 and 53 are secured on the base or platform member 32 and define therebetween end spacing for permitting reciprocating motion of wedge or slide part 34. The motor 47 is operatively connected to one end of the slide part 34 and may be of any suitable type, such as of a pneumatic or hydraulic (fluid) type or a reversible electric, screw-operating type. However, for purpose of illustration, a fluid motor 46 is illustrated and is shown secured in position on the base or platform member 32 through the agency of a baseplate member 45 adjacent one end of the slide part 34 to reciprocate it.

The guide member 33, as shown particularly in FIG. 3B, is of somewhat channel shape, in that it has a longitudinally extending, central recess portion 330 that is complementary with and that receives a central, longitudinally projecting portion 34a along bottom, planar side of the slide member 34 to guide the slide member in its reciprocating movement. As shown particularly in FIGS. 3 and 3B, the lower bearing part 35 has a slide portion 34a that is provided with an undersloped or wedge surface substantially complementary with upper-sloped or wedge surface 34b of the slide part 34 for guiding and retaining the slide part 34 with respect to the slide portion 35a. The slide portion 350 is shown provided with a longitudinally extending, inverted, V-shaped slot or recess portion 350, and the slide part 34 is shown provided with a complementary, longitudinally extending, V-shaped projection 34c. It is thus apparent that back-and-forth, endwise or reciprocating movement of the slide part 34 is guided, both by the guide member 33 and the slide portion 35a of the associated bearing housing.

The slide part 34, at its converging end, is provided with a steplike foot portion 34b which may move within a space a between it and the under side of the slide portion 35a before the bearing housing A or A is to be raised to its maximum initial position in removing a converter vessel 10 from its stand. However, as shown in FIG. 6, the final or maximum upward movement of the bearing housing A (or A) is accomplished when the step foot portion 34b moves or advances past along the recess 33a and between a pair of end posts or legs 35b at one end of the slide portion 35a. Thus, in lowering the vessel from its maximum raised position, for example, of 3 inches, to a position at which it is to be removed from its stands, for example, of I to 1% inches, the foot portion 34b will slide off between the end posts 35b and to substantially fill the spacing a of FIG. 3. On the other hand, when the bearing housing is to be lowered to a position at which the vessel 10 is to be aligned at the coupling parts 20 and 21, the foot portion 34b will be in the position of FIG. 3.

Each bearing housing or assembly A (and A) is provided with a pair of end retainers 40 and 53, one of which 40, is removably secured on the platform member 32 and the other of which 53, is nonremovably secured, as by welding thereto. Referring particularly to FIG. 3, the end retainer 40 is shown provided with a pair of spaced-apart upwardly projecting ears 40a that, at their upper ends, extend forwardly and carry an abutment cross plate 41. The plate 41 is adapted to engage against one end of the slide portion 35a of the lower housing part 35 to retain it in position, but to permit the bearing housing portion to be raised and lowered by sliding movement with respect thereto. The end retainer 40 has opposite pairs of spaced-apart, side-positioned, bifurcated portions 40b which are adapted to fit on and receive an end portion of the platform member 32 and to be removably secured thereto by boltand-nut assemblies 42. As a result, the end retainer 40 may be removed, as illustrated in FIG. 7, to permit an associated bearing assembly to be endwise moved out from its associated stand and jack mount. It will be noted that the guide member or plate 33 is open at left end with reference to its guide recess portion 33a in FIG. 3, in order that the step foot portion 34b of the slide part 34 may move between the pair of end posts 35b of the slide portion 35a and into engagement with an inner offset portion of the ears 47a to limit the maximum forward or raising movement of the slide part 34.

The opposite end of each housing assembly A (and A) cooperates with the fixed or nonremovable end retainer 53 which has a pair of spaced-apart, upwardly projecting ears that are also centrally backwardly offset and which project forwardly at their upper ends and carry a cross-extending abutment plate 54. It will be noted that the bottom portion of the ears of the end retainer 53 are secured, as by welding, to the base member 32. The abutment plate 54 is adapted to engage an opposed abutment plate 38 that is carried by a pair of spaced-apart end abutment portions 350 of the lower bearing housing part 35. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 6, the plates 38 and 54 may be removably secured together by bolts or bolt-and nut assemblies 55 when the vessel 10 (or 10') is in its normal, driven or operating position. When the bearing housings are to be raised by their jack mounts, the bolt-and-nut assemblies 55 are removed so as to permit the abutment plate 38 of the lower bearing housing part 35 to slide along the opposed abutment plate 54 of the end retainer 53. The centrally offset portion of the end retainer 53 governs or limits the backward movement of the slide part 34, in such a manner that when the slide part 34 abuts the end retainer 53, the bearing housings A and A' position the

trunnion shafts

13a and 13b in alignment with the driving means through alignment of the coupling parts 20 and 21.

As shown particularly in FIG. 3A, the fluid motor 46 has a cylinder 47 and its piston rod 49 is removably connected by an end pusher plate 51 through the agency of threaded bolts 52 to the back end of the slide part 34. Its piston 50 is driven in opposite directions by reversing the flow of power fluid between

port lines

48a and 48b.

The transfer car till may be of any suitable construction and does not, itself, constitute the invention involved. it will be noted that the car has a pair of wheel-carrying trucks 62 along each of its sides that are rotatably mounted on its base 61 at 62a for raising the platform bl, in order to rotate or turn its trucks 90 from, for example, trackway R7 to tracltway l3, and vice versa. Each motor hit of a group of three lift motors is secured on a post 67 to project downwardly from the platform 6ll. Each motor 63* is provided with a piston rod 69 and a baseplate 70 which is adapted to be positioned above the plant floor or ground level when the car is in operation and which is adapted to engage the floor or ground and lift the platform bl and the wheels of its trucks 62 off and above the rails of the trackway when the car 60 is to be moved from one trackway to another having an angular relationship with respect to each other. In FIG. 11, 67 indicates a control panel for actuating fluid lift motors 63 as well as fluid motors 64. However, the motors 64 are not essential utilizing the invention, in that the jack mounts are utilized for shifting the support of the converter vessel 10 (or 10') from the bearing stands and the pair of upright piers to the wheeled car 6t), and vice versa.

The bearing housing assemblies A and A are of identical construction and thus, the description of the housing A in the illustration of P16. 3 applies to both housing assemblies. As noted in FIG. t, a group or series of converter vessels lltl or llt) may be grouped at each station and successively moved into and out of relining, operating and hold stations. For simplicity, a hold station is not shown in FIG. l, but it may constitute a transverse area similar to the relining or repair station area D and be also located along the main or longitudinal trackway 18. The wheeled truck or car 66) may have its own power drive or may be, as shown, provided with a tow lug 71 for coupling it to a tractor that also operates on the trackways.

For ease of operation, it is contemplated that the lower surface of the slide portion 35 and the upper surface of the slide part 34, as well as the undersurface of the slide part 34 and the upper surface of the guide member 33, will have ground sur face finishes and will be pressure grease lubricated from the trunnion lubrication system ofthe vessel.

For illustrative purposes, the invention has been shown as applied to a stationary or floor-mounted drive; however, it will be apparent that it is also applicable to shaft-mounted drives in which motor and gear drive means are mounted on the trunnion shaft of the BOP furnace or converter vessel. in a shaftmounted drive, such as illustrated by the Lakin et a1. U.S. Pat. No. 3,207,002 and by the Falk et al. application for U.S. Letters Pat. No. 518,245 of Jan. 3, 1966, now as US. Pat. No. 3,364,173, entitled Drive Mechanism for Furnace Vessels and the Like," the vessel can be removed with the gearing and motor means in place on the trunnion shaft or, if desired, the complete drive unit may be removed from the shaft before the vessel is removed from its mounting on the stands or piers.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications, changes and additions may be employed in carrying out the invention that has been particularly illustrated in the drawings, without departing from its spirit and scope, as indicated by the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a shaft-mounted furnace vessel having a pair of trunnion shafts, at least one of which is adapted to be driven, and wherein spaced-apart stationary stands are provided for supporting the vessel, the combination of a pair of bearing housings, one of said housings being mounted in ajournaling position on one of the shafts and the other housing being mounted in a journaling position on the other of the shafts, ajaclt mount secured on at least one of the stands for receiving one of said housings thereon, means removably mounting said one housing on said jack mount, a sloped slide portion on the underside of said one housing, a sloped slide part operatively carried by said jack mount in cooperating engagement with said slide portion, and motor means on said jaclt mount operatively connected to said slide part for reciprocating said part with respect to said slide portion to raise and lower said one hous inon said aclt mount and the one stand.

in a urnace vessel as defined in claim 1 wherein said removably mounting means comprises, a pair of oppositely positioned end retainers projecting upwardly from and mounted on said jack mount to engage opposed ends of said one bearing housing, and means removably securing one of said end retainers on saidjack mount.

3. In a furnace vessel as defined in claim 2 wherein each of said end retainers has an endwise effect portion to limit endwise movement of said slide part.

4. in furnace vessel as defined in claim 2 wherein, said motor means is positioned adjacent one end of said jack mount, one of said end retainers is secured on said mount to project upwardly therefrom adjacent said motor means for retaining said housing against endwise movement in the direction of said motor means, and the other of said end retainers is removably secured adjacent an opposite end of said jack mount to project upwardly therefrom into engagement with an opposite end of said one bearing housing for retaining it in position on said jack mount against endwise movement away from said motor means during the operation of said slide part.

5. In a furnace vessel as defined in claim ll wherein, said jack mount has a pair of spaced-apart and oppositely positioned end retainers thereon that constitute said removably mounting means, said motor means extends through one of said end retainers in its operatively connected relation with said slide part, and at least one of said end retainers is removably secured on said jack mount, so that said one bearing housing may be endwise removed with the one trunnion shaft and the vessel.

6. In a furnace vessel as defined in claim 5 wherein, means removably secures said end retainer through which said motor means extends to said one bearing housing, and the end retainer that is removably secured on said jack mount is the other of said end retainers.

7. In a furnace vessel as defined in claim 1 wherein, said sloped-slide portion has a wedge-shaped undersurface, said slide part has a wedge-shaped upper surface in cooperative sliding engagement with the undersurface of said slide portion, and said motor means is a reciprocating fluid motor.

8. In a furnace vessel as defined in claim "I wherein said under and upper surfaces have means cooperating therewith for aligning and guiding said slide part for endwise movement with respect to said slide portion.

9. In a furnace as defined in claim h wherein, said means cooperating with said undersurface of said slide portion and the upper surface of said slide part comprises, a longitudinally extending inverted V-shaped recess portion along said slide portion and a longitudinally extending V-shaped rib portion along said slide part: said jack mount has an endwise-extending guide member for operatively positioning said slide part, said slide part has a longitudinally extending bottom projection therealong, and said guide member has a longitudinally extending central recess portion therealong to slidably receive said bottom projection.

lit). in a furnace as defined in claim l wherein, a guide member is secured on said jack mount to extend endwise thereof, and said guide member and an undersurface of said slide part have cooperating portions for positioning and retainingsaid slide part for endwise movement on said guide member.

ill. in a furnace vessel as defined in claim ll wherein, a

second jack mount is secured on the other stand for receiving the other of said bearing housings thereon, and said second jack mount and said other housing have the same defined construction and the same defined slide portion and slide part as said one, housing and said first-mentioned jack mount.

mg UNITED STATES PA'IENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3 6O3,573 Dated September 7, 1971 Inventor(s) John J. ill

It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

F Column 1, line In, change "BOE" to --BOF--. .1

Column A, line 5h, change "350" to 35e-.

Column 6, line 11 (claim 3), change "effect" to --offset--; line 13 (claim h) after "In" add --a-.

Signed and sealed this 25th day of January 1972.

i 1;. Attest:

ynnARD M.FLETCHER,JR. I ROBERT GOTTSCHALK nttesting Officer Commissioner of Patents

Claims

1. In a shaft-mounted furnace vessel having a pair of trunnion shafts, at least one of which is adapted to be driven, and wherein spaced-apart stationary stands are provided for supporting the vessel, the combination of a pair of bearing housings, one of said housings being mounted in a journaling position on one of the shafts and the other housing being mounted in a journaling position on the other of the shafts, a jack mount secured on at least one of the stands for receiving one of said housings thereon, means removably mounting said one housing on said jack mount, a sloped slide portion on the underside of said one housing, a sloped slide part operatively carried by said jack mount in cooperating engagement with said slide portion, and motor means on said jack mount operatively connected to said slide part for reciprocating said part with respect to said slide portion to raise and lower said one housing on said jack mount and the one stand.

2. In a furnace vessel as defined in claim 1 wherein said removably mounting means comprises, a pair of oppositely positioned end retainers projecting upwardly from and mounted on said jack mount to engage opposed ends of said one bearing housing, and means removably securing one of said end retainers on said jack mount.

5. In a furnace vessel as defined in claim 1 wherein, said jack mount has a pair of spaced-apart and oppositely positioned end retainers thereon that constitute said removably mounting means, said motor means extends through one of said end retainers in its operatively connected relation with said slide part, and at least one of said end retainers is removably secured on said jack mount, so that said one bearing housing may be endwise removed with the one trunnion shaft and the vessel.

8. In a furnace vessel as defined in claim 7 wherein said under and upper surfaces have means cooperating therewith for aligning and guiding said slide part for endwise movement with respect to said slide portion.

9. In a furnace as defined in claim 8 wherein, said means cooperating with said undersurface of said slide portion and the upper surface of said slide part comprises, a longitudinally extending inverted V-shaped recess portion along said slide portion and a longitudinally extending V-shaped rib portion along said slide part: said jack mount has an endwise-extending guide member for operatively positioning said slide part, said slide part has a longitudinally extending bottom projection therealong, and said guide member has a loNgitudinally extending central recess portion therealong to slidably receive said bottom projection.

10. In a furnace as defined in claim 1 wherein, a guide member is secured on said jack mount to extend endwise thereof, and said guide member and an undersurface of said slide part have cooperating portions for positioning and retaining said slide part for endwise movement on said guide member.

11. In a furnace vessel as defined in claim 1 wherein, a second jack mount is secured on the other stand for receiving the other of said bearing housings thereon, and said second jack mount and said other housing have the same defined construction and the same defined slide portion and slide part as said one housing and said first-mentioned jack mount.