US684449A - Trash-feeder for bagasse-furnaces. - Google Patents

Description

No. 684,445 Patented Oct. I5, 1901.

n. s. manna.

TRASH FEEDER FUR BAGASSE FURNACES.

(Application filed Dec. 13, 1899.)

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet I.

WXmzssas: use {or v www AS-W WM No. 684,449. Patented Oct. l5, I90l. R. S. MOORE.

TRASH FEEDER FOR BAGASSE FURNACES.

(Application filed Dec. 13, 1899.] (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Shaat 2.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT S. MOORE, OF OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE RISDON IRON AND LOCOMOTIVE WORKS, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

TRASH-FEEDER FOR BAGASSE-FURNACES.

SPECEFIGATION' forming part of Letters Patent No. 684,449, dated October 15, 1901.

Application filed December 13, 1899- Serial No. 740,203. (No model.)

T0 00% whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, ROBERT S. MOORE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Oakland, in the county of Alameda and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsiu Trash-Feeders forBagasse-Furnaces; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

The present invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in that class of machinery known as trash-feeders for bagasse-furnaces used in connection with the manufacture of sugar; and it consists in the arrangement of parts and details of construction, as will be hereinafter fully set forth in the drawings and described and pointed out in the specification. Ordinarily the feedrolls located within the trash-receiving hopper, located above and communicating with the combustion-chamber of the furnace, are so arranged as to leave a passage-way therebet-ween through which the trash passes. Where the passage-way or clearance-space between the feed-rolls is uniform, whether the feed of the trash into the feed-hopper be light or heavy, it is obvious that unless sufficient trash be maintained within the feed-hopper to cover or close the passage-way between the feed-rolls a space will be left through which air will be drawn or sucked from the hopper into the combustion-chamber of the furnace. As the feed-hopper is an open one, it is required that the passage-way between the feed-rolls be a closed one in order to provide against excess of air being drawn into the combustion-chamber. Such excess of air being admitted to the combustion-chamber serves to lower the temperature of the furnace to a considerable degree. This is a serious objection where the furnace is utilized in connection with the sugar-reducing boiler, as an uneven temperature efiects the process of manufacturing sugar to a considerable extent. It is this defect in the feed mechanism for the trash that the present invention is designed to obviate. Hence the invention may be said to consist in so arranging that the feed-rolls shall be adjustable toward and from each other in order to decrease or increase the passage-Way for the trash in accordance with the feed of the trash into the feed-hopper and so that the feed-rollers when adjusted will be positively held for the purpose of providing against excess of air being drawn or sucked into the combustion-chamber of the furnace.

In order to comprehend the invention, reference should be had to the accompanying sheet of drawings, wherein- Figure l is an end view in elevation of the feed mechanism applied to a bagasse-furnace, the furnace being partly broken and illustrated in longitudinal section and the endless feed-carrier partly broken. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view in elevation taken on line a: as, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the mechanism illustrated in Fig. 2, and Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 1 looking at the opposite end of the feed-hopper.

In the drawings the letter A is used to indicate an ordinary bagasse-furnace, and A the trash-feed hopper, located above the combustion-chamber A of the furnace, communication between the chamber A and interior of the hopper being established by the opening a, which opening or slot extends across and through top wall B of the furnace. The feed-hopper is supported by wall B directly over the opening a, Fig. 1 of the drawings, and is made, preferably, equal in width to that of the furnace. These features are old and well known in connection with trashfeeders for bagasse-furnaces, and the trash is fed into the feed-hopper by means of an endless conveyer B, which conveyer or carrier works over end rollers, only one, B being shown, and delivers the trash into the hopper at its upper end, as is usual in this class of feeders. As stated, the foregoing parts being old and well known to those familiar with this class of machinery detailed description of the same is not deemed necessary. Within the hopper A the toothed feed-rollers B B are located, which rollers receive the trash fed into the hopper and convey the same downward toward the opening a, leading to the combustion-chamber A These toothed rollers serve to break or mash the trash as passed therebetween. Said rollers are located a short distance apart, thus forming,-when the hopper is emptied of trash, a direct communication or passage-way Ct between the upper portion of the hopper or, as the hopper is an opened-top one, the atmosphere and the opening (t, leading to the combustionchamber. The journals 1 2 3 4: of-feed-rollers B B extend through elongated openings 5 6, cut through each end wall 7 S of feed-hopper A. Upon journal 1 of roller B is loosely fitted arm 0, which arm at its upper end is fulcrumed tostud b, projecting from end wall '7, while upon journal 20f roller B is loosely fitted arm 0, which arm at its upper end is fulcrumed by pin 17 to end wall 7, Fig. 1 of the drawings. The lower end of arm C is attached to slide-block cl, while lower end of arm 0' is attached to slide-block d. These blocks are internally screw threaded and work, respectively, upon the right and left screw-threaded portions 02 d of adjustingrod C which rod works in suitable bearings attached to end wall 7 of feed-hopper. Upon journals 3 4, projecting through opposite end wall 8 of the feed-hopper, is loosely fitted arms C C respectively, which arms at their upper end are fulcrumed to end wall 8. Arm C is attached at its lower end to slide-block e and arm 0 at its lower end to slide-block 6. Each slide-block, like slide-blocks d d, is internally screw-threaded and works, respectively, upon the right and left screwthreaded portions 6 e of ad justing-rod D, which rod works in suitable bearings attached to end wall 8 of the feed-hopper. To the inner end of adjustingrod D is attached a small sprocket-wheel D and to the inner end portion of adjusting-rod C is attached a similar sprocket-wheel D,o'ver which sprocket-wheels works the sprocket-chain D By means of the connecting sprocket-chain the rotation of adjusting-rod C isimparted to adjusting-rod I) in order that the adjusting mechanism located at each end of the hopper for the feed-rollers may work in unison. The adjusting-rod O is rotated by means of the hand-whee1D secured to the inner end thereof, Fig. 1 of the drawings. To the outer end of journal 1 is keyed or otherwise rigidly secured the worm-gear E, which worm-gear meshes with worm E of shaft E while to the outer end of journal 2 is keyed or otherwise secured the worm-gear E which meshes with worm Efialso secured to shaft E These worms may be said to constitute a part of shaft E which works in bearings attached to end wall 7. To one end of shaft E is secured the bevel-gear F, which meshes with pinion F secured upon the drive-shaft F This shaft is driven in any suitable manner and the motion thereof is transmitted to shaft E through the medium of gear and pinion F F Motion of the shaft E is in turn transmitted to the feed-rollers through the medium of the described inter-i meshing gear and worm mechanism. The pitch of theworms E E is such that the gears E are driven in opposite directioii's, so as r In this manner the rotation of feed-roller B 7 is imparted to roller B for driving of the endless conveyer B.

It will be readily understood that as, the trash is fed into the hopper A by the endless conveyer or carrier B it is received between the rotating feed-rollers B B which rollers feed the trash downward and deliver same into the combustion-chamber A through the passage-way (1. So long as the feed of the trash into the hopper is sufficient to maintain the passage a between the feed-rollers covered the positions of the feed-rollers remain unchanged. However, should the feed of the trash be light or less than the delivery of the same to the combustion chamber' of the furnace, then it becomes necessary to place the feed-rollers closer together in'order to reduce the passage-way therebetw'een.

By thus part closing the passage-waybetween' the feed-rollersl not only reduce the feed of the trash to the combustion-chamber in pro portion to the feed'of the trash into thefeedhopper, but at the same time prevent an'ex oess of air being drawn or sucked into the combustion-chamber from the feed-hopper; This closing or reducing the passage-way is accomplished through the medium ofthe adr j usting-rods C and D and the f ulcrumed arm's O, C, 0 and 0 When the operator'desires' to reduce the distance between the feed-roll ers, the hand-wheel D is turned to operate the rod 0 so as to draw the slide-blocked d inward, which serves to bring the fulcrum'edarms 0 and 0 together and likewise armsC and C by the inward movement of slide blocks a e upon the adjusting -rod D, the motion of adj ustingrod 0 being transmit IIO ted to rod D by means of the sprocket-.

chain D As the adj usting-rods work in uni son, the fulcrumed arms at each end of the feed-hopper gradually come together. In-

asmuch as the journals of the feed-rollers pass through these fulcruined arms,any'movement of the said arms is imparted to said rollers, the journals of which will slide within the elongated openings in the end walls 'of the feed-hopper for this purpose. When desired to increase the distance between the will thus be seen that I am enabled to move or regulate the position of the feed-rollers in proportion to the feed of the trash into the feed-hopper in order to provide against excess of air being drawn into the combustion-chamber of the furnace through the feedhopper.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure protection in by Letters Patent, is

1. In a trash-feeder for furnaces, the combination with a hopper adapted to be located over a feed-opening in a furnace, of a pair of bearing-arms fulcrumed at each of two opposite ends of said hopper, two feed-rollers sus pended by and rotatable in said arms, ad justing means at one end of the hopper for adjusting one pair of arms toward and from each other, adjusting means at the opposite end of the hopper for adjusting the other pair of arms, connecting means to cause the simultaneous operation of said two adjusting means, and mechanism for positively driving both feed-rollers irrespective of their adjustment, substantially as described.

2. In a trash-feeder for furnaces, the combination with the feed-hopper, of the endless conveyerfor feeding the trash into the hopper, the feed rollers arranged within the hopper, connected mechanism for imparting travel to the endless conveyer and rotation to the feed-rollers, the arms fulcrumed to each end of the hopper carrying the rollers and through which the journals of the feed-rollers extend, and of devices for throwing the fulcrumed arms in or out in order to adjust the feed-rollers toward and from each other.

3. In a trash-feeder for furnaces, the combination with ahopper adapted to be located over a feed=opening in a furnace, of a pair of bearing-arms fulcrumed at each end of said hopper, two feed-rollers arranged in said hopper, each having journals projecting through openings in the ends of the hopper and journaled in one bearing-arm at each end, a rotatable adj usting-rod mounted in bearings at one end of the hopper and having worms en gaging one pair of bearing-arms, a rotatable adjusting-rod mounted in bearings at the opposite end of the hopper and having worms engaging the other pair of bearing-arms, connecting means to cause the simultaneous rotation of said adjusting rods to move both rollers toward or from each other simultane ously, and mechanism for positively driving both feed-rollers irrespective of their adjustment, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I afflx my signature, in presence of two witnesses, this 10th day of November, 1899. 7

ROBERT S. MOORE.- Witnesses:

N. A. ACKER, D. B. RICHARDS.

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