US3605155A - Latching mechanism for apparatus utilized in cleaning coke oven doors - Google Patents

Abstract

IN APPARATUS FOR SCRAPING UNDESIRED SUBSTANCES FORMED ON THE FLANGE SURFACE AREA OF A COKE OVEN DOOR DURING A COKING OPERATION AND WHICH APPARATUS INCLUDES A DOOR CLEANER HEAD HAVING A SCRAPING MEANS THEREON, A LATCHING MECHANISM IS PROVIDED FOR SECURELY HOLDING THE CLEANER HEAD WITH THE DOOR TO BE CLEANED IN AN ORIENTED POSITION. THE LATCHING MECHANISM INCLUDES A PAIR OF LATCHING LINKS EXTENDING ALONG OPPOSING LATERAL SURFACES OF THE DOOR CLEANER EAD, THE FAR END OF EACH LATCHING LINK BEING PROVIDED WITH A PIVOTALLY MOUNTED LOCKING FINGER HAVING A LOCKING SURFACE THEREON FOR GRASPING THE DOOR FLANGE AND THE NEAR END OF EACH LATCHING LINK BEING PROVIDED WITH A PIVOTAL MEANS. ADJUSTABLE MEMBERS INTERCONNECT EACH OF THE NEAR END PIVOTAL MEANS TO A CRANK-SHAFT WHICH IS OPERATED BY AN ACTUATING MEANS FOR MOVING THE FINGERS BETWEEN LOCKED AND UNLOCKED POSITIONS THROUGH THE LATCHING LINKS, PIVOTAL MEANS AND ADJUSTABLE MEMBERS.

Description

c. o. McCULLOUGH EI'AL 5, 5 LIATCHING MECHANISM FOR APPARATUS UTILIZED IN CLEANING COKE OVEN DOORS 11 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVI'JN'NHS CHARLES l) McCULLOUGH LE() 64 SCHR EDER ATTORNEY Sept. 20, 1971 Filed July 18, 1969 FIG. 1

Sept. 20, 1971 c, MQCULLQUGH ETAL 3,605,155

LATCHING MECHANISM FOR APPARATUS UTILIZED IN CLEANING COKE OVEN DOORS FilBd July 18, 1969 11 Sheets-Sheet 2 Sept. 20, 1971 c. o. McCULLOUGH 3,505,155

LATCHING MECHANISM FOR APPARATUS UTILIZED IN CLEANING coxa OVEN noons Filed July 18, 1969- 11 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIG. 4

FIG. 5

Sept 1971 c. o. MOCULLOUGH ETAI- 5 LATOHING MECHANISM FOR APPARATUS UTILIZED IN CLEANING COKE OVEN DOORS Filed July 18, 1969 11 Shanta-Shoot 4 FIG. 6'

FIG. 7

Sept. 20, 1971 Q M CULLQUGl-I E'I'AL 3,605,155

LATCHING MECHANISM FOR APPARATUS UTILIZED IN CLEANING COKE OVEN DO0R$ Filed July 18, 1969 11 Sheets-Sheet 5 Sept. 20, 1971 c, D, McCULLQUGH ETAL 3,605,155

LATGHIM WIS! FOR MPARATUS UTILI'ZED IN CLEANING COKE OVEN DOORS Filed July 18, 1969 1]. Sheets-Sheet 6 FIG. 9

87m I Z) :z:

Sept. 20, 1971 c. I). MCULLOUGH EI'AL 3,605,155

LA'I'C'JHING IECHANISI FOR APPARATUS UTILIZED IN CLEANING COKE OVEN DOORS Filed July 13, 1969 11 Sheets-Sheet 1 53 FIG. 11

Sept. 20, 1971 c. D. Mccu Loug EIAL I 3,605,155

LATOHING IEOHAMSI l-on APPARATUS u'rILIzED IN CLEANING COKE OVEN DOORS Filed July 18, 1969 11 Sheets-Shoot 8 I -9 H I I FIG. 13

Sept. 20, 1971 C. D. MGCULLQUGH EI'AL 3,605,155

' LATCHING IEOHANISM FOR ABlARATUS UTILIZED IN CLEANING COKE OVEN DOORS Filed July 18, 1969 11 Sheets-Sheet 9 Sept. 20, 1971 c. o. MccuLLouGH TAL, LATCHING MECHANISM FOR APPARATUS UTILIZED IN MEANING COKE OVEN DOORS Filed July 18, 1969 11 Sheets-Sheet 10 E SQ mm m8 m8 m Q I M||L N mww In on NS IN m m8 NEI. m 5 u Sept. 20, 1971 Q mocuL oum- ETAL 3,605,155

LATCHING MECHANISM FOR APPARATUS UTILIZED I" CLEANING COKE OVEN DOORS I Filed July 18, 1969 11 Sheets-Sheet 11 United States Patent Oi" 3,605,155 LATCHING MECHANISM FOR APPARATUS UTILIZED IN CLEANING COKE OVEN DOORS Charles D. McCullough, Metropolis, Ill., and Leo G. Schroeder, New Hyde Park, N.Y., assignors to Wilputte Corporation Filed July 18, 1969, Ser. No. 842,856 Int. Cl. Cb 43/04 U.S. CI. -93 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE In apparatus for scraping undesired substances formed on the flange surface area of a coke oven door during a coking operation and which apparatus includes a door cleaner head having a scraping means thereon, a latching mechanism is provided for securely holding the cleaner head with the door to be cleaned in an oriented position. The latching mechanism includes a pair of latching links extending along opposing lateral surfaces of the door cleaner head, the far end of each latching link being provided with a pivotally mounted locking finger having a locking surface thereon for grasping the door flange and the near end of each latching link being provided with a pivotal means. Adjustable members interconnect each of the near end pivotal means to a crank-shaft which is operated by an actuating means for moving the fingers between locked and unlocked positions through the latching links, pivotal means and adjustable members.

This invention relates to the cleaning of self-sealing coke oven doors and particularly to a latching mechanism utilized in apparatus for cleaning the sealing surfaces of coke oven doors.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Self-sealing doors for coke ovens have a sealing strip extending therearound which presents a knife edge to the machined face of the door jamb for sealing therewith. It is well known that, in order to be effective, the seal made between a self-sealing coke oven door and its jamb must be gas tight and therefore depends upon the sealing surfaces therebetween being initially clean. Thus, due to the formation of deposits of a pitchy, carbonaceous nature along the sealing strip surface and area adjacent thereto during the coking operation, it is necessary to periodically clean these surfaces, preferably after each coking operation.

Coke oven door cleaning has in the past generally been performed manually by scraping and chipping the deposits from the sealing surfaces. The cleaning performed in this manner is tedious and arduous work which is not efficiently performed because of the prevailing heat conditions in the vicinity of the coke oven door jambs. Further, such cleaning results in an uneconomically long shut-down of the coke ovens between charges and, additionally, the equipment used in scraping and chipping often mars the sealing surfaces.

Various proposals have been made in the past for mechanically effecting the cleaning of the sealing surfaces of coke oven doors, such as the use of mechanical scrapers, rotary steel bristle brushes and burrs. Such apparatus have not proved satisfactory due to wear characteristics on the sealing surfaces and their inability to meet selfcleaning requirements. Also separate complex, cumbersome mechanisms have been employed for scraping the horizontal, vertical and arcuately shaped corner sealing surfaces, respectively, of a door, such mechanisms being of high costs and requiring time consuming maintenance.

3,605,155 Patented Sept. 20, 1971 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide apparatus for cleaning the sealing surfaces of selfsealing coke oven doors cheaply, quickly and efliciently wherein a novel latching mechanism is employed.

Broadly, the latching mechanism utilized in the apparatus of the present invention is provided to securely hold a cleaner head with an oven door to be cleaned in an oriented position. The latching mechanism includes a pair of latching links extending along opposing lateral surfaces of the door cleaner head, the far end of each latching link being provided with a pivotally mounted locking finger having a locking surface thereon for grasping the door flange and the near end of each latching link being provided with a pivotal means. Adjustable members interconnect each of the near end pivotal means to a crankshaft which is operated by an actuating means for moving the fingers between locked and unlocked positions through the latching links, pivotal means and adjustable members.

Specifically, the latching mechanism includes a pair of arms extending along opposing lateral surfaces of the door cleaner head, a latching link housed within each arm and having a far end and a near end, and a locking finger pivotally mounted to each arm near the far end of each latching link, each of said locking fingers being provided with a substantially L-shaped locking surface for grasping the door flange. A first crank member is associated with each latching link at its far end and includes a first portion pivotally mounted to its respective arm and a second portion pivotally connected to its respective latching link. A link pivotally interconnects a third portion of each first crank member with its respective locking finger. Adjustable members are associated with each arm and pivotally connected at one end to a crank-shaft, while a second crank member is associated with each arm at the near near end of each latching link and is provided with a first portion pivotally mounted to its respective arm, a second portion pivotally connected to its respective latching link and a third portion pivotally connected to the other end of its respective adjustable members. Finally, means are provided for actuating the crank-shaft for retracting and extending the locking fingers in unlocked and locked positions with the door flange.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING Other objects and fuller understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view, with cut away portions, of the door cleaner in contact with a coke oven door;

FIG. 2 is a rear View of the door cleaner head taken along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front view of the door cleaner head taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged side view of the bottom alignment arm assembly;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged plan view of the bottom alignment arm assembly depicted in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged plan view of the top alignment arm assembly;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged side view of the top alignment arm assembly depicted in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged side view of the upper section of the door cleaner;

FIG. 9 is a rear view of the carriage assembly for supporting the door cleaner head;

FIG. 10 is a plan view of the carriage assembly depicted in FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of the carriage assembly counter-balance arms taken along the line 11-11 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 12 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the carriage assembly spring-loaded rod units;

FIG. 13 is a plan view of the door cleaner head latching mechanism;

FIG. 14 is an enlarged view of one of the arms of the latching mechanism depicted in FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is a rear view of the latching mechanism depicted in FIG. 13;

FIG. 16 is a side view of the door cleaner head scraper carriages;

FIG, 17 is a plan view of the door cleaner head scraper carriages depicted in FIG. 16;

FIG. 18 is an enlarged view of the wear strip track scraper;

FIG. 19 is an enlarged view of the shaft take-up bearing units; and

FIG. 20 is a cross-sectional view of the shaft take-up bearing units taken along the line 20-20 of FIG. 19.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring more particularly to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 of the drawing, numeral refers to a conventional coke oven door of rectangular configuration with arcuate corners. It is to be noted that the apparatus to be described herein is located on the pusher side of the battery for cleaning oven doors thereat; however, it is apparent that such apparatus may also be located on the coke side of the battery for cleaning oven doors thereat. As depicted, the door has been removed from a coke oven by conventional retractor means (not shown) and pivotally moved to such a position that the inner surface 11 of the door is presented to the door cleaner head, generally referred to at 12. A flanged seal 13 is located about the periphery of the door upon which vapors have condensed to form a carbon-tar substance which is to be removed by the door cleaner. The door is provided at the bottom end with an inverted U-shaped member 14 and at the top end with a substantially triangularly-shaped member having a fiat apex 150:, said members being cooperatively used for alignment of the door cleaner with the door, as described hereinafter.

The door cleaner head 12 includes a vertically extending front bar frame and a rear bar frame 21, each of said bar frames being of Z-shaped cross section as seen in FIG, 12. The bar frames are connected to each other by a plurality of outer braces 22-22 located thereabout. A guide rail 23 (FIG. 1) is positioned approximately midway between frames 20, 21 and is attached thereto by bolt members 24-24, said guide rail being of substantially rectangular configuration with arcuate corners and of the same contour as the door to be cleaned. As seen in FIGS. 2, 3 and 17, the front and rear bar frames are positioned with respect to each other so as to form a front rectangularly-shaped track 25 and a rear rectangularly-shaped track 26, in parallel relationship, around which a pair of scraper carriages, generally referred to at -30, are transported. The tracks 25, 26 are in parallel relationship with the guide rail 23 and surface of the door to be cleaned when the door cleaner is oriented with the door. The tracks are lined with wear resistant strips 31-31, such as cold rolled steel SAE 1018 which may be easily replaced when worn.

At the bottom of the door cleaner, as seen in FIGS. 1, 4 and 5, there is provided an alignment arm 35 which is connected to a base member 36 pivotally mounted on shaft 37 extending between bar frames 20, 21. The arm 35 is provided with a tapered front end 38 so that it may be easily inserted through the slot of the U-shaped member 14 to align the bottom of the door cleaner with the door. A stop 39 also is provided on arm 35 for limiting the forward movement of the door c ea er wi h respect to the door. Base member 36 is provided with a leaf spring 41 which, in cooperation with pivotal shaft 37, permits arcuate movement of the arm in a substantially vertical direction for enabling the door cleaner to engage and become oriented with doors that may vary slightly in length due to constructional variation.

The top end of the door cleaner, as seen in FIGS. 1, 6 and 7, is provided with an alignment assembly 42 for vertically and horizontally aligning the top of the door cleaner with respect to the door. The top alignment arm assembly 42 includes a pair of supporting arms 43-43 aflixed to the top of the door cleaner and having an axle 49 therebetween about which a grooved type roller 44 rotates. As the door cleaner is moved forward into contact with the door, the arcuate surface 45 of roller 44 moves along apex 15a of the triangularly-shaped member 15 for providing the necessary vertical alignment therewith, while the laterally extending inclined surfaces 46-46 of the roller ride along the lateral surfaces of member 15, thereby imparting any necessary horizontal movement of the door cleaner with the door for horizontal alignment therewith.

As seen in FIGS. 1, 8, 9 and 10, the door cleaner is fully supported by a carriage assembly, generally referred to at 50, which includes a main frame 51 having a pair of parallel disposed counter-balance arms 5252 pivotally connected by pins 53-53 near the top end 51a of the frame, and a pair of bell-crank members 54-54 pivotally connected at 55-55 near the bottom end of the frame. The front ends of the counter-balance arms 5252 are pivotally connected to extending members 56-56 of the door cleaner by pins 57-57, and the other ends of the arms are pivotally connected by pins 58-58 to links 59-59 which are attached to vertically extending rods 60-60. Each of the pivotal pin connections 53-53, 57- 57 and 58-58 of arms 5252, as seen in FIG. 10, are of the swivel ball-joint type having respective self-aligning bearings 53a-53a, 57u-57a and 58a-58a, which are seated in respective retainer rings 53b-53b, 57b-57b, and 58b-58b and envelop the pins for causing movement of the arms 52-52 in any direction and, in turn, enabling the door cleaner head to become aligned with the door upon its movement into contact therewith as later described.

The rods 60-60 are cooperatively associated with respective spring-loaded rod units 61-61, seen in detail in FIG. 11, and extend therethrough to supporting elements 62-62 extending from frame 51. Rods 60-60 are provided with sleeves 63-63 having nuts 64-64 located on either side thereof for adjusting the vertical position of the carriage assembly.

The bell-crank members 54-54 are pivotally connected by pins 65-65 to turnbuckles 66-66 which are attached to a lower projecting frame supporting element 67. The other ends of the bell-cranks are pivotally connected to a common horizontally extending shaft 68 which is keyed to a vertically projecting arm 70 leading into a springloaded unit 71 for imparting the desired force on the bellcranks. It can be seen that adjustment of the turnbuckles will cause relative horizontal movement between carriage 50 and the door cleaner head, the cleaner head being in a preferred adjusted position when it is located at an incline with respect to the door prior to engagement therewith. During movement of the cleaner head towards the door, as later described, the bottom end of the cleaner head makes initial contact with the bottom end of the door. Upon continued movement of the cleaner head the top alignment assembly engages the top end of the door and, through the pivotal action of bell-crank members 54-54 together with movement of counter-balance arms 5252, the door cleaner head is held in plumb position with respect to the door.

As seen in FIGS. 1 and 8, the top portion 51a of frame 51 is provided with a pair of parallel spaced front rollers 76-76 and rear rollers 77-77 for travel over a pair of parallel disposed rail tracks 78-78 located in overhead beams 79-79. The carriage is capable of reciprocating horizontal movement along the tracks by means of a fluid operated cylinder 80 aflixed to beam 81 and having a reciprocating piston rod 82 which is connected at 83 to the top end 51a of frame 51. Upon actuation of cylinder 80, by suitable conventional means (not shown), the carriage and cleaner head are moved along tracks 7878 towards the door whereupon the bottom alignment arm 35 passes through the slot of inverted U-shaped member 14 and the top alignment arm roller 44 then engages top door member 15, thereby causing the door cleaner head to become vertically and horizontally aligned with the door as previously described. The door cleaner head stops its forward movement when it is in full contact with the door, limit switch 83 striking member 84 to operate a suitable circuit (not shown) to actuate the scraper carriages 30-30. Thus, it can be seen that any variation in the length of the door, as well as any other horizontal or vertical movement resulting from engagement of the cleaner head with the door is compensated by the pivotal action of counter-balance arms 52-52 and bell-crank members 5454 together with the action of spring-loaded units 61-61 and 71-71.

After a door cleaning operation, as later described, a circuit (not shown) is actuated causing the door cleaner head to move rearwardly until the cylinder rod is retracted. Limit switch 85 travels downwardly over member 86 thus causing a circuit to be actuated for operating the door retractor apparatus to return the door to the coke oven. During the return movement of the carriage, tapered ends 87-87 of counter-balance arms 52-52 pass into and through frustoconical slots 88-88 to adjustably located the arms in a centrally aligned position ready for the next forward movement of the door cleaner head.

As seen in FIGS. 13, 14 and 15, a latching mechanism is provided for securely holding the door cleaner head with the door in the oriented position and maintaining same during operation of the scraper carriages 30-30. The latching mechanism includes a pair of latching links 90-90 located within fixed arms 91-91 which extend along the opposing lateral surfaces of the door cleaner head. One end of the links is connected by pins 92-92 to first angular portions of substantially triangularly shaped cranks 93-93 which have stationary pins 94-94 located at second angular portions thereof and connected to arms 91-91 for providing pivotal movement therefor. The third angular portions of cranks 93-93 are connected to the ends of links 95-95 by pins 96-96, the other ends of the links being connected to locking fingers 97-97 by pins 98-98. Locking fingers 97-97 are pivotally connected to arms 91-91 by pins 99-99 and are provided with substantially L-shaped locking surfaces 97a-97a for securely grasping the opposite surface 13a of flange 13.

The other ends of links 90-90 are connected by pins 101-101 to first angular portions of substantially triangularly shaped cranks 102-102 which are pivotally connected by stationary pins 103-103 located at second angular portions thereof to end members 104-104. Pins 105-105 are located at third angular portions of cranks 102-102 and connected to one end of turnbuckles 1'06- 106 which extend along the rear section of the door cleaner head. The other ends of the turnbuckles are connected by pins 107-107 to one end of a rotatable crankshaft 108 which extends vertically downwards, the other end of the crank-shaft being connected to a handle 109 which extends laterally therefrom. The crank-shaft is secured to the frame by locking members 110-110.

The latching mechanism, as seen in FIGS. 13 and 14, is shown in the locking position. In order to unlock the locking fingers 97-97 from the door flange, handle 1'09 is manually moved to the opposite side thus causing crankshaft 108 to rotate clockwise. In turn, as illustrated by the arrows in FIG. 13, turnbuckles 106-106 are actuated causing pivotal movement of cranks 102-102 about fixed pivot pins 103-103 to retract links -90 which, in turn, cause pivotal action of links 93-93 about fixed pins 94-94 to result in a pivotal movement of fingers 97-97 about fixed pins 99-99 so as to release and retract finger surfaces 97a-97a from door flange surface 13a. While the aforementioned latching mechanism has been described as being operable by manual means, it is readily apparent that it may be operable by automatic means, for example, the crank-shaft may be connected to a drive mechanism which operates in response to the actuation of a circuit via closing limit switch 83.

The scraper carriages 30-30 are equally spaced from each other and are of similar structure, thus, the description of one will suffice for the description of the other. As seen in detail in FIGS. 16 and 17, the carriage includes a shaft provided with a front rotatable end roller 116 and a rear rotatable end roller 117 for travel along tracks 25, 26 respectively. A second shaft 118, disposed in parallel relationship beneath shaft 115, also is provided with a front rotatable roller 119 and a rear rotatable roller 120 for travel along tracks 25 and 26, shafts 115 and 118 being connected to each other by a housing 121. A third shaft 122 also is connected to housing 121 and is provided with a connecting member 124 thereon near the front end of the carriage which, in turn, is connected to an endless double chain 125. Similarly a connecting member 126 is located on shaft 122 near the other end thereof towards the back end of the scraper carriage and, in turn, is connected to an endless single chain 127. Chains and 127 are connected to a drive mechanism, described hereinafter, for transporting the scraper carriage. A part of rotatable cam followers 128-128 are connected to shafts 129-129 which extend in parallel relationship through the carriage housing 121, the cam followers being movable along opposing sides of guide rail 23 for maintaining the chain straight and protected from side pressures.

A scraper head, generally referred to at 130, is connected to shafts 115 and 118 near the front ends thereof, said head including a rear section 131 and a front section 132. A spring-loaded swivel element 133 is connected to front section 132 and has mounted thereon a scraper blade 134 for scraping the deposits from the surface of the door flange 13. The front section 132 of the scraper head 130 is provided with springs 135-135 for resiliently urging swivel element 133 outwardly, said element being capable of imparting arcuate movement to the blade thus enabling the latter to scrape uneven deposits along the door flange. Scraper head 130 is movable along pins 136-136 projecting from rear section 131; thus, when blade 134 contacts an irregular deposit along the flange seal or passes about the arcuately shaped corners of the door, sufficient backup movement is imparted to the blade as a result of front section 132 moving along pins 136 while springs 135- 135 provide the necessary force on the blade. As the blade travels on a relatively smoother, less dense surface along the flange, front section 132 extends forward thereto.

Track scrapers, as seen in FIGS. 1 and 18 and generally referred to at 140-140, each are connected to front and rear roller chains 125 and 127 respectively for travel in front of each scraper carriage 30-30 for cleaning any debris that may have dropped on the front and rear track wear strips 31-31, during a door scraping operation. The scrapers, as seen in FIG. 18 are provided with connectors 142-142 which are attached at one end to a common shaft 143 extending between the front and rear tracks 25, 26 and at the other end to respective chains 125, 127 by fastening members 144-144. A pair of blade holders 145-145 are attached to the shaft and extend in parallel relationship therefrom, the leading ends 146-146 tapering outwardly towards the track wear strips 31-31. Scraper blades 147-147 are adjustably mounted on the leading ends by fasteners 148-148 to cause the blades to have contact with the track wear strips. A spring 149 is connected between holders 145-445 to normally urge the blades outwardly against the track wear strips. During travel of scrapers 140-140, debris is scraped and removed from the wear strip during its travel along the bottom 31a, vertically upward 31b and top 310 sections of the wear strips, the collected debris falling by gravity during travel of the scrapers along the vertically downwardly section 31d of the wear strips.

A pair of horizontally disposed, parallel spaced, rotatable shafts 150, 151 (FIGS. 1, 2 and 3) extend through respective upper corner portions of the door cleaner and a pair of horizontally disposed parallel spaced rotatable shafts 152, 153 extend through respective lower corner portions of the cleaner. As seen in FIG. 1, the front ends of each of the shafts have dual-type sprockets 154154 keyed thereto for imparting movement to double chain 125, and single type sprockets l55155 keyed at the back ends of the shafts for imparting movement to single chain 127. A suitable motor 156 (FIGS. 1 and 2) through a suitable gear reducer (not shown) drives a chain 157, about a sprocket 159, which is connected to shaft 150, the rotation of the latter causing rotation of sprockets 154154 and, in turn, movement of the chains 125, 127, to transport the scraper carriages 3030 and scraper blades 134134 continuously about the periphery of the door surfaces and flange strip seal to scrape the carbon-tar deposits therefrom.

As seen in FIGS. 2, 3, 19 and 20, the end portions of each shaft 150, 151, 152 and 153 are housed in similar take-up bearing units 160-460. Each bearing unit includes a bushing head 161 for supporting its respective shaft end, said head being movable within supporting guides 162162. A set screw 163 is threadly connected through a fixed member 164, one end of said screw being secured to the bushing head 161 for adjustably moving the shaft towards and away from the corner of the cleaner head and, in turn, its respective chain sprocket for maintaining the chain under the desired tension. A locking nut 165 is provided at the other end of the set screw for securing the latter against member 164 in order to hold the shaft in the desired adjusted position. It can be seen, therefore, that with the adjustable bearing units, an even distributive force may be applied against each of the chains 125-127 in a direction towards or from the door cleaner corners for maintaining the chains under the desired tension, thereby not only insuring proper orientation of the cutter blade with the door but also preventing any slippage or breakage of the chains.

In operation, after a door is removed from the coke oven, the door cleaner head is transported towards the door whereupon the bottom alignment arm 35 and top alignment roller 44 engage and travel over their respective door aligning members 14 and 15 to align the door cleaner head with the door. Counter-balance arms 5252 permit movement of the cleaner head in any direction in response to all the aforementioned alignment mechanisms. The latching links 90-90 are actuated to cause finger surfaces 97a97a of fingers 97-97 to grasp and hold the door in the adjusted oriented position. Next, motor 156 is energized to drive endless chains 125-127 which, in turn, transport scraper carriages 3030 about the door flange seal and adjacent inner surface area of the door. Scraper blades 134-134 quickly scrape clean the carbontar deposits from the door; typically, the door may be scraped clean within 1-2 minutes.

The door cleaner thus described may be located at the end of a coke battery or mounted on a movable control apparatus having associated therewith a door extracting machine, a pusher machine including a door extracting mechanism or any combination of said machines.

We claim:

1. In apparatus for scraping undesired substances formed on the flange surface area of a coke oven door dur- 8 ing a coking operation and which includes a door cleaner head having a scraping means thereon, in combination, a latching mechanism for securely holding the cleaner head with the door to be cleaned in an oriented position, which comprises:

a pair of latching links extending along opposing lateral surfaces of the door cleaner head,

a pivotally mounted locking finger connected to the far end of each latching link, each finger having a locking surface for grasping the door flange,

pivotal means connected to the near end of each latching link,

a crank-shaft,

adjustable members interconnecting each of the near end pivotal means to the crank-shaft, and

means for actuating the crank-shaft for moving the fingers between locked and unlocked positions through the latching links, pivotal means and adjustable members.

2. In apparatus, according to claim 1, wherein the locking surface of each locking finger is provided with a substantially L-shaped surface for engagement with the door flange.

3. In apparatus, according to claim 1, which further includes:

an arm for housing each latching link, locking finger and pivotal means, each locking finger being pivotally mounted to its respective arm,

a first crank member associated with each arm at its far end and having a first portion pivotally mounted thereto and a second portion pivotally connected to its respective latching link, and

a link pivotally interconnecting a third portion of each first crank member with its respective locking finger.

4. In apparatus, according to claim 3, wherein the pivotal means connected to the near end of each latching link includes a second crank member having a first por tion pivotally connected to its respective latching link link at its near end, a second portion pivotally mounted to the arm, and a third portion pivotally connected to its respective adjustable member.

5. In apparatus, according to claim 3, wherein the adjustable members are turnbuckles.

6. In apparatus, according to claim 3, wherein the crank-shaft, in response to the actuating means, is rotatable in counter-clockwise and clockwise directions for retracting and extending the locking fingers in unlocked and locked positions with the door flange.

7. In apparatus for scraping undesired substances formed on the flange surface area of a coke oven door during a coking operation and which includes a door cleaner head having a scraping means thereon, in combination, a latching mechanism for securely holding the cleaner head with the door to be cleaned in an oriented position, which comprises:

a pair of arms extending along opposing lateral surfaces of the door cleaner head,

a latching link housed within each arm and having a far end and a near end,

a locking finger pivotally mounted to each arm near the far end of each latching link, each locking finger being provided with a substantially L-shaped locking surface for grasping the door flange,

a first crank member associated with each latching link at its far end having a first portion pivotally mounted to its respective arm and a second portion pivotally connected to its respective latching link,

a link pivotally interconnecting a third portion of each first crank member with its respective locking finger,

a crank shaft,

adjustable members associated with each arm and pivotally connected at one end to the crank-shaft,

a second crank member associated with each arm at the References Cited near end of each latching link and having a first UNITED STATES PATENTS portion pivotally mounted to its respective arm, a second portion pivotally connected to its respective 3,056,699 10/1962 Randell et 1593A latching link and a third portion pivotally connected 5 to the other end of its respective adjustable members, WALTER SCHEEL Pnmary Exammer and L. G. MACHLIN, Assistant Examiner means for actuating the crank-shaft for retracting and extending the locking fingers in unlocked and locked U.S. Cl. X.R.

positions with the door flange. 10 269-407

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