US698787A - Steel-converter. - Google Patents

Description

No. 698,787. Patented Apr. 29, I902.

' 8-. K. BEHBEND.

-STEEL CONVERTER.

(Application filed July 31, 1900.

(No Model.)

5 Shaets Sheat I.

n [mm M witneoaeo No. 698,787. Patented Apr. 29, I902.

- s. K. BEHR'END.

STEEL CONVERTER (Application filed. Tqly 31, 1900.\ (No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 2.

No. 698,787. Patented Apr. 29, I902.

- S. K. BEHREND.

STEEL CONVERTER.

(Application filed July 31, 1900. (No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sh eet 3.

flu vemtoz No. 698,787. Patented Apr. 29, I902.

S. KrBEHREND.

STEEL CONVERTER.

(Application filed July 31, 1900.

5 Sheets-Sheet 4.

(No Model.)

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No. 698,787. Patented Apr. 29, I902.

S. K. BEHBEND.

STEEL CONVERTER.

0 (Application filed July 31. 1900. (No Model.) 5 Sheets-Shae! 5.

I NITED STATES ATENT FFICE.

TO HOWARD EVANS, OF PHILADELPHIA,

PENNSYLVANIA.

STEEL-CONVERTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 698,787,

dated April 29, 1902.

Application filed July 31 1900. Serial No. 25,434. (No model.)

is equipped with an ordinary iron-foundry for making iron castings in connection with the work on which the tools are doing duty. A large tonnage of iron castings is used where steel castings should be put in; but in consequence of the difficulty of getting steel castings iron is inserted, and necessarily two or three times the weight is added to the objects under manufacture. Under the present methods it is next to impossible to get steel castings except'by causing much delay in carrying on the work. Rarely can an order be filled for steel castings at any of the steel-casting plants within thirty days, and more frequently it requires nearer ninety days. Thus it will be seen how greatly the average machine-shop is embarrassed for the want of castings, and for this reason iron is not infrequently employed where steel should be used and is preferred, thereby increasing the weight of the article being manufactured and also increasing the liability of breakage.

My converter remedies the foregoing objections and places an effective steel plant within the grasp of all large machine shops having their own iron-foundries at a com paratively trifling initial cost.

The object of this converter is to provide an equipment for any iron-foundry now in operation using the regular cupola which they already have for melting the charge; and it consists in a ladle which forms the bottom of the converter when in position, which ladle is preferably adapted to run on a suitable track from cupola to converter, and vice versa, in connection with means for raising and lowering the ladle into or out of contact with the upper portion or stack of the converter, as the case may be.,

My process; can be made continuous, or a single blow. can be made, which greatly reduces the cost which would naturally be entailed by the use of the open-hearth process, which latter must be made continuous both day and night and requires expert operators, not to speak of long continuous heating, from ten to twelve hours, to complete the melting, and can never be run economically unless the charge runs from ten to twenty tons. With my converter as soon as a blow is made everything can be allowed to cool down and it can be started again at will.

'Another desirable use to which my converter can be put is in the manufacture of what is known as semisteel or in taking just. such foundry-iron as is ordinarily used in making gray-iron castings, as by running this iron into the ladle and giving it, say, a five or ten minute blow a large portion of the carbon is thereby removed, and the result is an iron casting of great toughness and tenacity with a strength nearly equal to that of mild steel, which could be utilized as an excellent metal for car-wheels, or, in fact, for any product Where greater strength than castiron is required.

In addition to the several features named and the objects attained-=such as the construction of the truck with ladle attached and capable of being tilted or lifted into place beneath the stack of the converter to form a part thereof and the adjustable twyers by which any angle of blow can be obtained, either of the whole number of twyers or the different individual twyers-still other features consist of the means of disposing of the slag by means of slag-holes and. a number of other more or less important accessories, which will be hereinafter more fully described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a view in side elevation. Figs. 2 and 3 are vertical sections taken at right angles to each other. Fig. 4 is a'plan view. Fig. 5 is a plan view of the ladle. Fig. 6 is a horizontal section on line 2 2 of Fig. 2. Figs. 7, 8, and 9 are sections and details showing the location and construction of the slag-holes. Fig. 10 is a bottom plan view of the twyer-frame. .Fig. 11 is a top plan View of the same, the latter two figures both being on an enlarged scale; and Figs. 12 and 13 are views in section and elevation of the means for elevating and lowering the ladle of the converter.

A represents a superstructure erected on a suitable foundationas, for instance, the piers 1 1. The superstructure or framework can of course be variously constructedas, forv instance, it maybe entirely built up of I-beams of suitable metal, as is indicated by the parts 2 2 in the drawings.

B and indicate the upper and lower sections of the converter, or, as I shall term them, the stack and ladle, respectively. The stack B is stationary and is preferably supported by means of the side brackets 3 3 upon the horizontally-disposed side beams of the superstructure. This stack is of the upright cylindrical type, with a tapering chimney at the top, and consists of a sheet-metal shell lined with fire-brick, silica, or other refractory material to a suitable depth, as is customary. This stack is not only open at the top, but also at the bottom, as more fully shown in Fig. 2, where it is constructed and adapted to fit the ladle when the converter is in operation. The stack 13 is surrounded by the customary wind-belt 4, which latter may be constructed of sheet-metal plates securely bolted and riveted together by means of angle-irons. An inlet is provided for the passage of air for the supply of this wind-belt. In thisconnection it may be stated that while any form of twyer may be employed in the holes 6 6 provided for them, yet I prefer substantially the form shown and described in my concurrently-pending application, Serial No. 32,305, filed July 31, 1900, which application is a divisional part of this one.

Two or more slag-holes16 16 are formed in the lower end of the stack B, as is shown more particularly in detail in Figs. 7, 8, and 9 of the drawings. Their. location, it will'be understood, is just above the surface of the charge, where access to the latter can be easily had at any time during the process of conversion, thus avoiding the necessity of tilting the converter or stopping the blast=in short, rendering it possible to dispose of the slag in the most convenient manner possible and at the same time economically without any interruption of the operation of conversion.

The ladle O is carried upon a truck E. This truck is provided with wheels 18 18, which travel on tracks 20 provided therefor. These tracks.20 of course extend centrally through the framework or superstructure of the converter and may be carried to any suit-able point. On the truck are erected a pair of standards 21 21, and trunnions 22 22, projecting in opposite directions from the ladle, are journaled in these standards, where they are held against the possibility of accidental displacement by the cap-plates 23, which are bolted securely to the upper ends of the stan dards 21 21. An arm 24 projects upwardly from each of these cap-plates in position to enter sockets 25 on the sides of the stack B when the sections are together, thus insuring perfect alinement and preventing lateral displacement. On each of these trunn-ions, as a means for tilting the ladle when the charge is to be poured out, the worm-gears 26 26 are secured. Worms 27 on shafts 28 engage the teeth of the worm-gear. The worm-shafts 28 are journaled in the standards 21, as shown in Fig. 1. Both ends of these shafts 28 are preferably square or angular in cross-section to receive a crank or other means by which they are turned, and the operation of tilting the ladle is rendered easy and accurate by turning these shafts 28, and by the use of the worm and worm-gear the ladle is held locked wherever it is set against the possibility of displacement from any accidental disturbance. Spouts 30 30 at either end discharge the molten mass.

As a means for raising and lowering the ladle 0 some suitable jacking mechanism is provided. I have illustrated a convenient meansfor accomplishing this, which I will now describe.

A block 31 is constructed-and adapted to fit a socket 32, centrallylocated on'the bottom of the truck-frame. journaled in the track-rails20, extends centrally through this block 31 and has secured thereon a cam 34, which preferablycarrie's a series of hardened-steel antifriction-rol'lers 35 on a common spindle 36 inthe cam. These" lifting the wheels 18 from the track-'rails'20 and forcing the ladle into tight engagement' with the stack B. The shaft 33 may be rocked A shaft 33, preferably in any convenient manner, and as a convenient means for doing this I have shown a worm-gear segment 39, secured on one end of the shaft. A worm 40 on shaft 11 engages the teeth of the worm-gear segment and turns and locks the shaft in any position required, cranks 42 42 being provided for rotating this shaft in either direction. Obviously this device for raising and lowering the ladle can be replaced by a simple ram operated by hydraulic or other power where such facilities are available.

Having described the preferred details, the operation will be briefly outlined. The ladle C, mounted on the truck provided therefor, is run along the track to such point as may be arranged for charging the ladle, after which it is run back to a point immediately beneath the stack, whereupon it is lifted into engagement therewith, as has been fully described, and the air-blast is turnedon and the twyers set to such inclination as is deemed most suitable for the work to be performed. When the operation is complete, the ladle is lowered and carried 0E on the track to a point arranged for the discharge of the contents.

to the stack with a new charge and the process of converting be repeated. In this manner a two-ton charge of metal can be converted into high-grade steel equal to the product of the best open-hearth furnace in about twenty minutes. The process can be made continuous or a single blow can be made, thus greatly reducing the cost. With this converter as soon as a blow is completed, if-desired, everything can be allowed to cool down, or it can be started up at will.

It is evident that slight changes other than those heretofore mentioned might be made in the form and arrangement of the several parts described without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention, and hence I do not desire to limit myself to the exact construction herein set forth; but,

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is as follows:

1. A converter comprising a stationary stack, and a movable ladle, the ladle adapted to contain the molten metal, and the stack having a series of twyers extending around it, their lower ends extending no lower than the upper end of the ladlewhereby the blast of air issuing from the twyers is directed upon the surface of the metal and toward the center thereof.

2. A converter comprising a stack and ladle, one stationary and the other movable, the ladle adapted to contain the molten metal and the stack having va plurality of twyers therein which extend around it at arpoint at or near its lower end and no lower than the upper edge of the ladle, said twyers vertically adjustable and constructed andadapted to be locked in any of their various adjustments.

3. A converter comprising-a stack and ladle, one of which is movable with respect to the other, the stack having twyers located at its lower end, which twyers extend around the converter and are located no lower than the upper edge of the ladle, said twyers being movable at their outer ends from their inner ends as centers and providedwith means for lockin g them in the different adjustments.

4. A converter comprising a stack and ladle, one being stationary and the other movable, the ladle adapted to contain molten metal and the stack having a series of twyers extending entirely around it at a point at or near its lower end, the stack also provided at its lower end with openings for the removal of slag therefrom, the inner ends of the twyers and the slag-openings being in approximately the same horizontal plane.

5. A converter comprising a stack and ladle detachably connected together, a windsupply and a series of twyers in communication with said wind-supply and extending around the converter with their discharge ends at a level approximately coincident with the joint formed between the stack and ladle.

6. The combination with the stack, of a truck carrying a ladle which latter forms the complement of the stack when in contact therewith, the truck having a centrally-located socket on its lower surface, a block below the socket, said block having curved ways on its lower interior surface, a shaft having a cam, said cam carrying antifriction-rollers adapted to turn in contact with the curved ways on said block, a worm-segment on the shaft and a worm engaging said segment for rocking the shaft whereby to raise or lower the ladle of theconverter.

7. The combination with the stack of a converter, of a truck having a ladle thereon, the truck having a centrally-located socket on its lower surface, a vertically-sliding block centrally located beneath the truck and in aline ment with the socket when the truck is in position to be raised and lowered, and a-rockshaft having cam mechanism thereon constructed and adapted to raise and lower the I block whereby to control the position of the truck.

' In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of ,two subscribing witnesses.

THOMAS vL. HuNTEn, WM. H. BADEN.

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