US588025A - Furnace-door-operating device - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

H. B. SPRAGUE. FURNACE DOOR OPERATING DEVICE.

N0..588,025. Patented Aug. 10,1897.

in 1/6 72 Z0 r J-[. B. ,Sprayzze- I (BY z UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HIRAM B. sPRAeUE, or LE'AvENwoETn, KANSAS.

FURNACE-DOOR-OPERATING DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 588,025, dated August 10, 1897. Application filed f'ebrnary 19, 1897. Serial No. 624,101- (No model.)

To to whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HIRAM B. sPRAeUE, of Leavenworth, Leavenworth county, Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Locomotive'F urnace-Door-Opcrating Devices, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part thereof.

My invention relates to locomotive-furnacedoor-operating devices; and my object is to produce a device of this character which is reliable in operation and simple, strong, durable, and inexpensive of construction.

The invention consists in certain novel and peculiar features of construction and organization, as hereinafter described and claimed.

In order that the invention may be fully understood, reference is to be had to the said accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 represents a vertical section of a locomotive-cab and illustrates in rearelevation the furnace-door and its operating devices. Fig. 2 represents a horizontal section taken on the line 11 II of Fig. 1, showing the floor of the cab partly broken away. Fig. 3 represents a vertical section taken on the line III III, Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings in detail, 1 designates the cab of a locomotive.

2 designates the rear end or side of a furnace and boiler, and 3 the door'opening thereof, through which fuel is introduced into the furnace. At one side of said door-opening is arranged a hinge-rod i, it being journaled in the bearing-brackets 5, two of them below and one above, preferably, the floor of the cab. One of the upper brackets is formed with an upper cam or inclined surface 6.

7 designates the f urnacedoor, which closes the opening 3 and is provided with hingearms 8, which embrace the hinge-rod 4, and are secured rigidly thereon by means of the set-screws 9 or in any equivalent manner. One of said arms is provided with a lower inclined or cam-face 10, which conforms to and rests upon the upper inclined face of the bracket 5,11ereinbefore referred to. By this arrangement it is obvious that when the rod 4 is rotatably operated in the proper direction the cam-surface 10, resting upon the camsnrface 6, causes the door and hingerod to be elevated bodily a slight distance, and when open to assume approximately the position illustrated in dotted lines, Fig. 1, so

that when the power is removed which opens the door and holds it open the door by gravity will swing back to its original or closed position, the cam-surface 10 of the arm 8 sliding down upon the cam-surface 6 of the bearing-bracket 5. Thus it will be seen that the door cannot be accidentally left open and permit cold air to enter and chill, or, rather,reduce the temperature of,the furnace, and thereby necessitate a greater consnmption of fuel.

11 designates a plate secured to the door 7 and provided with a curved arm 12, terminating in an enlargement, and a pin 13.

At a suitable point, on the furnace-wall, by preference, is a ring 14, and fitting therein at one end is a coil-spring 15, which tapers diametrically toward and at its opposite end surrounds and preferably engages an opening in the pin 13, so that there is no possible chance of dislocating the spring by opening or closing the door forcibly or otherwise. The function of this spring is to automatically and reliably close the door and hold it closed, except when resisted by an overcom- 8o ing force or power, as hereinafter explained.

16 designates an arm Whichis mounted rigidly by means of the set-screw 17 or its equivalent upon the hinge-rod 4 near its lower end, and is pivotally connected at its opposite end as at 18, to operate in a horizontal plane to the link 19, which link in turn is pivotally connected to a second and lower link 20, that the latter may operate in a vertical plane. Said link 20 at its opposite end is pivotally connected to operate in ahorizontal plane, as at 21, to the short link 22, and said short link at its opposite end is pivotally mounted between the vertical ears 23 of alever 2e,which lever is pivotally connected to operate in a 5 vertical plane to the bracket 25, bolted or otherwise rigidly secured to the bottom of the floor of the cab.

The lever 24: is provided also with a pair of upwardly-projecting ears 26, in which is piv- 10o otally mounted at 27 the lower end of the\ short link 28, and said link at its upper end is pivotally connected to the link 29, so that the latter may swingin a vertical plane, but

at right angles to the movement of the link 28. In order that this relation between said links may be established, the floor of the cab is provided with an opening 1 through which said links extend.

designates a foot-plate hinged, as at 31, to the floor of the cab and provided with a recess 32 near its opposite end, across which a pin 33 extends transversely. Pivoted, as at 34, to the upper end of the link 29 in a plane at right angles to that of the latters connection with the link 28 is a short link 35, the upper end of which is loosely mounted upon the cross-pin 33.

The footplate 30 is normally elevated and maintained in such position by the spring 15 or its equivalent, and consequently the door 7 is normally held closed with a yielding pressure,as hereinbefore explained,and such pres sure assisted, as pointed out, by utilizing the Weight of the door to prevent it from accidenta-l opening.

In case it may be necessary at any time to hold the door open I have provided the free and upper end of the foot-plate with a tooth or shoulder 36 and have provided the dog 37, pivotally mounted on a bracket- 38, to engage said foot-plate when moved properly by the operator. lVhen it is desired to close the door, all that is necessary to do is to place the foot upon the foot-plate and simultaneously depress the same slightly and force the dog out of engagement with the shoulder 36. The spring is then permitted to raise the footplate and close the door.

In the practical operation of firing a locomotive-furl] ace the fireman usually has to get a shovelful of coal and hold it in one hand or rest it upon the floor of the cab until he opens the furnace-door. He then throws the coal into the furnace and either closes the door or leaves it open until he gets the next shovelful. By the first method a great deal of time and labor are unnecessarily'wasted and by the latter method an unnecessary quantity of fuel must be consumed in order to counteract the influence of the chilling currents of air that enter thefurnace and flues of the boiler while the door is open. WVith myinvention the fire-- Having thus described the invention, What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

In a furnace-door-operating device,the combination of a vertical hinge-rod suitably supported adjacent to the door-opening, a.door mounted thereon, a curved arm projecting from said door and terminatingin an enlargement or shoulder and apin, a ring or annulus secured to the furnace,a spiral spring seated at one end in said ring or annulus and embracing at its opposite end the pin of the door-arm, an arm mounted rigidly on said rod below the floor of the cab, a link-rod, a pair of short links connecting said rod with said lever and with said arm, a foot-plate hinged to the upper side of the floor, a link-rod, and a pair of short links connecting said rod with the footplate and the lever below the floor of the cab, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

HIRAM B. SPRAGUE.

\Vitnesses:

J OSEPH PIENING, NATHAN V. BUCK.

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