Improvements in or relating to Electric Furnaces for the Production of Calcium Carbide and other substances.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 8th Dec., 1897
Complete Specification, Left, 8th Sept., 1898-Accepted, 26th Nov., 1898
Improvements in or relating to Electric Furnaces for the Production
of Calcium Carbide and other substances.
We, JOSEPH BASTICK, of 1, Carrill Grove, Levenshulme, Manchester, in the
County of Lancaster, Electrical Engineer, and WILLIAM ARTHUR THORNTON, of
Belper House, Market Place, Wetherby, in the County of York, Manager, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to improvements in or connected with electric furnaces
that are used or employed for the production of calcium carbide and other
substances.
.
Hitherto there has been a great expenditure of the electrical current in fur-
naces as at present constructed that are employed for the production of calcium
carbide from coke and lime to produce their fusion. This is partly owing to
the construction of what is termed the furnace box in which the fusion takes
place which permits only a small quantity of the material to be acted
upon
at
a time. And partly owing to the form in which the material has been submitted
to the action of the electric current as it passes under or between the hearth and
the carbons.
Now the object of the present invention is not only to economise the electric
current but at the same time to so construct and operate the box that a larger
quantity of prepared material may not only be presented to the action of the
current and more completely fused than in furnaces of ordinary construction.
According to this invention the furnace box or boxes may be made either
circular, square, or rectangular and it may be made of metal lined with firebrick
or fireclay. Each furnace box may be mounted upon a fixed or reciprocating
table carried by suitable slides or framework. The required reciprocating motion
may be imparted to the table or tables by means of a rack and pinion arranged
under the table and to be actuated either automatically or by hand. Each table
is provided within the box with a suitable hearth made of carbon or broken coke,
and with or without a delivery opening, which may be suitably plugged when
the furnace is in operation. Any convenient device such as a lever or levers
may be provided for retaining the plug in position. Or the box and hearth may
be removed bodily from the table by any convenient means whenever it is desired
to remove the same for emptying purposes.
Rollers being provided if desired in the bottom of the box to facilitate their
removal. Or one or more delivery openings may, if desired, be provided in the
sides or walls of each box.
Any desired number of, say, vertical carbon pencils may be employed in each
box mounted over the hearth but at a suitable distance therefrom and they may
be either stationary, or capable of being revolved within and around the box
or in axial bearing by any convenient means such as by suitable carriers actuated
by gearing. The carbon pencil or pencils may also be arranged so as to be
capable of being raised or lowered to or from the hearth, or if the carbon. pencil

page_text: or pencils are made a fixture then the table, box, and hearth as well as its operat-
ing mechanism may be made to be raised to or lowered to the carbon pencil
or pencils either by hand, or automatically.
Any convenient means may be employed for raising and lowering either the
carbon pencil or pencils and table or tables, such as say by hand by means of a
hand wheel and screw and wire rope passing over pulleys and suitable insulated
carriers, or automatically by say, the solenoid action. If the carbon pencil or
pencils are made a fixture then the feed spouts or chutes which are arranged on
say either side of the carbon pencil or pencils and communicate with the hopper
or hoppers of the furnace may be made to reciprocate or oscillate-by the same
or similar means to that employed for conveying or imparting motion to the
carbon pencil or pencils,-for evenly and regularly distributing the material on
to the hearth to be operated upon by the electric current for conversion into
calcium carbide.
The material to be operated upon after being properly mixed is fed to the
hearth through one or more hoppers connected to said spouts, chutes, arranged
in or to pass through the brickwork of the furnace so as to deliver the material
on to the hearth on one or both sides of the carbon pencil or pencils. Suitable
dampers or louvres being also employed if required for directing the material
to the required chute or spout.
By making the box and hearth to say reciprocate under the carbon pencil or
pencils a much larger quantity of material may be continuously operated upon
until the box is filled to a predetermined height in a more satisfactory manner
than in furnaces of ordinary construction.
The other parts of the furnace, the switch board or boards, and the means for.
conveying the electric current to and from the furnace may be of the usual and
ordinary construction.
D1
of Toonmbar 1807
Improvements in or relating to Electric Furnaces for the Production
of Calcium Carbide and other substances.
We, JOSEPH BASTICK, late of 1, Carrill Grove, Levenshulme, Manchester, in the
County of Lancaster, but now of 110, Golden Hillock Road, Small Heath, Birming-
ham, in the County of Warwick, Electrical Engineer, and WILLIAM ARTHUR
THORNTON, of Belper House, Market Place, Wetherby, in the County of York,
Manager, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement:-
This invention relates to improvements in or connected with electric furnaces
that are used or employed for the production of calcium carbide and other
substances.
Hitherto there has been a great expenditure of the electrical current in fur-
naces as at present constructed that are employed for the production of calcium
carbide from coke and lime to produce their fusion. This is partly owing to
the construction of what is termed the furnace box in which the fusion takes
place which permits only a small quantity of the material to be acted upon at
a time.
And partly owing to the form in which the material has been submitted
to the action of the electric current as it passes under or between the hearth and
the carbons.

page_text: 13 a sectional elevation or an electric furnace constructed according to
this invention showing a reciprocating rectangular furnace box (partly in section
and partly in elevation) with the means for raising and lowering carbon pencils
capable of receiving an eccentric movement.
Fig. 2 a longitudinal section of furnace with furnace box partly in section
and partly in elevation.
.
Fig. 3 a plan of furnace with clutch motion for throwing the revolving carbon
pencil in and out of gear.
Fig. 4 a sectional plan on line Fig. 2.
Fig. 5 an end view.
Like parts in all the views are marked with similar letters of reference.
The furnace may be built of brick and lined with firebricks in the ordinary way,
as shown at Fig. 1, but the furnace is preferably built in the manner illustrated
in the accompanying drawings with openings for the admission of the furnace
boxes A and trolleys Q constructed as hereafter described.
A is the furnace box which may be made either circular, square, or rectangular,
a rectangular box is shown in the drawings, and it may be made of metal lined
with firebrick a or fireclay, or crucibles, or other non-conducting material. Each
furnace box A is mounted upon a fixed or reciprocating table B mounted on and
carried by suitable slides or framework C built or let into the brickwork of the
furnace as shown at Fig. 1. The required reciprocating motion may be imparted
to the table B by means say of either a rack and pinion arranged under the table
and to be actuated either automatically or by hand, or by means of a worm D
mounted on shaft D₁, worm wheel E, and connecting rod F as shown in the
drawings. The box A may be securely attached to the reciprocating table B by
any convenient means such as, say, by eyebolts 6 jointed to lugs 61 on the table
and their opposite and screw threaded ends made to pass through or engage with
lugs a on the box A and retained therein by a hand wheel 62 having a screw thread
cut through its boss and which acts as a nut for the eyebolt. Each table B is
provided within the box with a suitable hearth A¹ made of carbon or broken
coke, and with or without a delivery opening as which may be suitably plugged
when the furnace is in operation. Any convenient device such as a lever or levers
or screws may be provided for retaining the plug al in position, such as a weighted
lever a jointed to the table. The plug a' is attached to the lever a². Or the box
and hearth may be removed bodily from the table by any convenient means
whenever it is desired to remove the same for emptying purposes.
Rollers or wheels A2 arranged to work on guides a provided on the reciprocating
table B are also provided. and fixed if desired near the bottom of the box to
facilitate its removal to and from the furnace. Or one or more delivery openings
may, if desired, be provided in the sides or walls of each box, that is to say end
delivery doors A³ jointed at the bottom of the box A and retained in position by
hinged catches a³, or bottom delivery doors A4 hinged at one end and retained in
a closed position by an eye bolt a and hand wheel a may be used. When the
last named method is employed the plug a¹ and weighted lever a³ as well as the
hearth A¹ may be fixed to the door A Any desired number of, say, vertical
carbon pencils G may be employed in each box mounted over the hearth A' but
at a suitable distance therefrom and they may be either stationary, or capable
as in the drawings, of being revolved either concentrically or eccentrically within
and around the box A or in axial bearing by any convenient means such as by
suitable carriers H actuated by gearing. In the drawings the carrier H is mounted
eccentrically in the worm wheel I to which a horizontal rotary motion is imparted
from any convenient source by a worm I¹ mounted upon a shaft Iº. The motior

page_text: of the shaft I may be arrested and controlled by the clutch 13 operated by the
lever I fulcrumed to the furnace as shown. The worm wheel I is provided with
a boss i which works in the axial bearing ; of the fixing J. The carbon pencils G
may each be protected with a metal shield L (which forms the subject matter of
a separate application for Letters Patent dated 8th September 1898 No. 19116)
lined on the inside with a non-conducting material. The carbon shields L are
arranged above the top of the furnace box A and are capable of receiving a vertical
motion say by means of a rack and pinion . By this means provision is made
for exposing the carbon pencil only at the point of fusion. The carbon pencil
or pencils G may also be arranged so as to be capable of being raised or lowered
to or from the hearth A¹ that is in a vertical direction or if the carbon pencil
or pencils are made a fixture then the table, box, and hearth as well as its operating
mechanism may be made to be raised to or lowered to the carbon pencil or pencils
either by hand, or automatically by worm and worm wheel.
Any convenient means may be employed for raising and lowering either the
carbon pencil or pencils and table or tables, such as for the carbon pencils, say,
by hand by means of a hand wheel K and screw K' and wire rope K2 made to pass
over pulleys K³ as shown at Fig. 5 and suitable insulated carriers H, or auto-
matically by say, the solenoid action. If the carbon pencil or pencils are made
a fixture then the feed spouts or chutes which are arranged on say either side of
the carbon pencil or pencils and communicates with the hopper or hoppers of the
furnace may be made to reciprocate or oscillate-by the same or similar means
to that employed for conveying or imparting motion to the carbon pencil or
pencils, for evenly and regularly distributing the material on to the hearth A¹
to be operated upon by the electric current for conversion into calcium carbide.
The other parts of the furnace, the switch board or boards, and the means for
conveying the electric current to and from the furnace through positive lead N
and negative lead O passed through the brickwork in earthenware tubes P for
insulating purposes may be of the usual and ordinary construction and work in
the ordinary manner.
xj
The finished material may be deposited in the wagons or trolleys Q,
the wheels Q¹ of which are arranged to run upon the rails Q² fixed to sleepers
as shown for conveyance from the furnace.
Sight holes R covered with mica or other material may be provided in the fur-
nace door as shown at Fig. 5.
The material to be operated upon after being properly ground and mixed is fed
to the hearth A¹ through one or more hoppers not shown in the drawings, con-
nected to spouts, or chutes M arranged in or to pass through the brickwork of
the furnace so as to deliver the material on to the hearth A' on one or both sides of
the carbon pencil or pencils G. Suitable dampers or louvres not shown in the
drawings, may also be employed if required for directing the material to the
required chute or spout M.
By making the box A. and hearth A¹ to say reciprocate under the carbon pencil
or pencils having a rotary or eccentric movement, a much larger quantity of
material may be continuously operated upon until the box A is filled to a pre-
determined height in a more satisfactory manner than in furnaces of ordinary
construction.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, we would have it
understood that we are aware that electric furnaces have been employed for many
years prior to the date of this application for the reduction of metals, in which
processes coke and lime have been used, also that calcium carbide has been
previously produced by the fusion of coke and lime in the electric furnace, we
therefore do not broadly claim the use of such furnaces for the purposes named
except when constructed as herein described, but what we do claim is:
--
1. In an electric furnace, a furnace box constructed as described mounted upon

page_text: a table receiving a reciprocating motion simultaneously with, or separately from,
the rotary motion of one or more carbon pencils working within said box, sub-
stantially as herein described and illustrated.
2. In an electric furnace, a carbon pencil arranged so as to be capable of
rotary movement within a furnace box in addition to being vertically adjusted
to and from the hearth, substantially as herein described and illustrated.
3. In an electric furnace such as herein described the combination of a furnace
box lined with a non-conducting material having a hinged delivery bottom or
side and provided with a carbon hearth within it, a reciprocating table upon
which the box is mounted and fixed one or more carbon pencils having a rotary
motion over the hearth in addition to adjustment vertically to and from it, and
the means described for imparting the motions to the said table and carbon pencil
or pencils, all arranged substantially as described and as illustrated in the accom-
panying drawings.
Dated this Cirth date of Santamber 1898