Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 20rd May.,
1000
1070
Complete Specification Left. 7th Feb. 1899-Accepted. 18th Mar.. 1899
Date of Application, 2010 may,, 1090
Complete Specification Left. 7th Feb. 1899-Accepted. 18th Mar.. 1899
I, WILLIAM BURGELAND JOHNSON, of 4, Clayton Square, Liverpool, in the County
of Lancaster, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:
The object of my invention is to provide an improved apparatus for hoisting and
feeding stock to blast furnaces, adapted to afford a better and more uniform dis-
tribution of the charge than has heretofore been obtained.
In carrying my invention into practice I mount on the top of a blast furnace a
framework, at the upper end of which is mounted a hoisting wheel, over which
the hoisting rope extends from the drum to a swinging bail, which is pivotted to
the rear portion of a wheeled skip. The skip wheels travel upon the rails of an
inclined track which leads from the bottom of the furnace to the frame at its top,
and at the upper ends the rails are bent horizontally towards the centre of the
furnace and terminate in curved stops, which engage and hold the front wheels
of the skip. Guides are provided for the rear wheels of the skip, these guides being
in the form of rails, along which the wheels pass and which prevent the skip from
tipping sidewise from its true position.
The skips dump into a chute or hopper, mounted centrally above the charging bell
and suitably supported on the framework. At the lower end of this chute or hopper
is a preferably cylindrical funnel or throat secured to the central portion of the
annular casing of the furnace and closed by a bell which is secured to the lower
end of a tube. The throat or funnel is preferably not of substantially greater
diameter at its base than the bell and extends above the top of the bell, so that
when the stock is poured into the hopper the throat will be filled up with stock
around the bell and when the bell is dropped the stock will be discharged uniformly
into the hopper below. I believe I am the first to use in a furnace having a lower
bell and hopper, an upper bell and chute or hopper with a throat or funnel at the
base which serves to distribute the stock, discharged from a chute, in a mass
completely surrounding the bell, instead of collecting it merely on one side.
The tube at its upper end is provided with projecting trunnions. These trun-
nions are hung in depending bearings carried by yokes pivotted to the forked
front end of a lever which is fulcrumed upon the frame, and the outer end of which
is normally held in depressed position by a counterweight. The lever is swung
to open the bell by a single acting cylinder which is pivotally mounted upon the
frame and the fluid supply for which is controlled from the engine room.
The charging bell of the furnace is carried by a rod to which it is secured by a
pivotted link, this rod extending centrally through the tube and pivotted at its
077

page_text: upper end to a pin. The pin is pivotted within the central portions of links, which
at their upper ends are pivotted to a pin in the end of a lever while to projecting
pins at the lower ends of these levers are pivotted forked arms of a swinging link
pivotted between two channels. The lever is provided at its rear end with a
counterweight and is swung to lower the charging-bell by a pivotally mounted
motive cylinder controlled from the engine room similarly to the cylinder operating
the upper bell.
The operation of my device is as follows;-The skip being drawn to the top of
the furnace its front wheels engage the stops and its rear end being elevated by the
bail the contents are dumped into the chute and slide down its inclined sides into
the throat or funnel and upon the upper bell at its base. The skip then being
allowed to tip back, its rear wheels again engage the track and it is lowered to the
bottom of the same. The operation is repeated until a suitable amount of stock is
accumulated in the throat, whereupon the upper bell is lowered by admitting fluid
to its operating cylinder, and the contents dropped and distributed upon the
charging hell proper. The charging bell is intermittently raised and lowered as
usual by its operating cylinder and the stock is uniformly distributed in the
furnace.
The advantages of my invention will be appreciated by those skilled in the art.
The throat or funnel by receiving the stock which drops into it from the inclined
sides of the upper chute or hopper and concentrating it in the centre irrespective
of how it is discharged into the chute or hopper, causes the charge to drop upon the
lower charging bell in such manner as to give a much more equal and uniform
distribution than if it were not employed. The contents of several skips can be
dropped into the upper chute before the bell of this hopper is moved to discharge
into the hopper below.
An ordinary chute or chutes may be used in place of the hopper-shaped chute,
and many other changes in the form and arrangement of the parts may be made
without departing from my invention.
Improvements in Blast Furnace Feeding Apparatus.
I, WILLIAM BURGELAND JOHNSON, of 4, Clayton Square, Liverpool, in the County
of Lancaster, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying
drawings, forming part of this specification, in which:-
Figure 1. is a side elevation, partly in section, of the upper portion of a blast-
furnace provided with my improved apparatus; and Figure 2 is an enlarged side
elevation, partly broken away and taken at right angles to that of Figure 1.
The object of my invention is to provide an improved apparatus for hoisting
and feeding stock to blast furnaces, adapted to afford a better and more uniform
distribution of the charge than has heretofore been obtained.
In the drawings 2 represents the blast furnace, having mounted on the top a
frame-work 3, at the upper end of which is mounted a hoisting wheel 4 over which
the hoisting rope 5 extends from the drum to a swinging bail 6, which is pivoted
to the rear portion of a wheeled skip 7. The skip wheels travel upon the rails 8
of an inclined track which leads from the bottom of the furnace to the frame at

page_text: its top, and at the upper ends the rails are bent horizontally toward the centre
of the furnace and terminate in curved stops 9, which engage and hold the front
wheels of the skip. 10 are guides for the rear wheels of the skip, these guides
being in the form of rails, along which the wheels pass and which prevent the
skip from tipping sidewise from its true position.
The skips dump into a chute or hopper 11, mounted centrally above the charging
bell and suitably supported on the framework, as shown. At the lower end of this
chute or hopper is a preferably cylindrical funnel or throat 11' secured to the
central portion of the annular casing 12 of the furnace and closed by a bell 13
which is secured to the lower end of a tube 14. The throat or funnel is preferably
not of substantially greater diameter at its base than the bell and extends above
the top of the bell, so that when the stock is poured into the hopper the throat
will be filled up with stock around the bell and when the bell is dropped the stock
will be discharged uniformly into the hopper below. I believe I am the first to
use in a furnace having a lower bell and hopper, an upper bell and chute or hopper
with a throat or funnel at the base which serves to distribute the stock discharged
from a chute, in a mass completely surrounding the bell, instead of collecting it
merely on one side. I intend to make broad claims to such throat with the chute
and hopper, and in addition thereto make specific claim to the construction as just
described.
The tube 14 at its upper end is provided with projecting trunnions 15. These
trunnions are hung in depending bearings carried by yokes 16 pivoted to the
forked front end of a lever 17, which is fulcrumed upon the frame, as shown, and
the outer end of which is normally held in depressed position by a counterweight 18.
The lever is swung to open the bell 13 by a single acting cylinder 19 which is
pivotally mounted upon the frame as shown, and the fluid supply for which is
controlled from the engine room.
The charging-bell 20 of the furnace is carried by a rod 21 to which it is secured
by a pivoted link 22, this rod extending centrally through the tube 14 and pivoted
at its upper end to a pin 23. The pin 23 is pivoted within the central portions of
links 24, which at their upper ends are pivoted to a pin 25 in the end of a lever 26,
while to projecting pins at the lower ends of these levers are pivoted forked arms
of a swinging link 27 pivoted between two channels at 28. The lever 26 is pro-
vided at its rear end with a counterweight 29 and is swung to lower the charging
bell by a pivotally mounted motive cylinder 30 controlled from the engine room
similarly to the cylinder 19.
The operation of my device is as follows:-The skip being drawn to the top of
the furnace its front wheels engage the stops 9 and its rear end being elevated by
the bail, the contents are dumped into the chute and slide down its inclined sides
into the throat or funnel 11' and upon the bell at its base. The skip then being
allowed to tip back, its rear wheels again engage the track and it is lowered to the
bottom of the same. The operation is repeated until a suitable amount of stock is
accumulated in the throat, whereupon the bell 13 is lowered by admitting fluid
to the cylinder 19 and the contents dropped and distributed upon the charging bell
proper 20. The charging bell 20 is intermittently raised and lowered as usual by
the cylinder 30, and the stock is uniformly distributed in the furnace.
The advantages of my invention will be appreciated by those skilled in the art.
The throat or funnel by receiving the stock which drops into it from the inclined
sides of the upper chute or hopper and concentrating it in the centre irrespective of
how it is discharged into the chute or hopper, causes the charge to drop
upon the lower charging bell in such manner as to give a much more equal and
uniform distribution than if it were not employed. The contents of several skips
can be dropped into the upper chute 11 before the bell of this hopper is moved to
discharge into the hopper below.
An ordinary chute or chutes may be used in place of the hopper-shaped chute

page_text: shown, and many other changes in the form and arrangement of the parts may, be
made without departing from my invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said in-
vention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is;-
-
1. The combination with a blast-furnace having at its upper end a main charging
hopper and bell, of an inwardly sloping chute arranged above the main hopper,
a downward extension or throat below the upper chute, a bell arranged to seat
upwardly against the lower end of the extension and receive the material dropping
from the upper chute or hopper, and means for actuating both bells.
2. The combination with a blast furnace and its charging bell, of a chute or
hopper secured in place above the bell, said hopper having inwardly sloping sides,
a contracted extension or throat projecting downwardly from the lower end of the
hopper, and a downwardly movable bell-bottom arranged to close the lower end of
the throat or extension, said throat or extension extending above the top of its
bell-bottom and adapted to concentrate the stock around and over the same pre-
liminary to dropping it upon the lower charging bell.
3. The combination with a blast-furnace of a track leading to its top, a tipping
skip having wheels movable upon the track, lifting mechanism for lifting the rear
part of the car off the track when at the top of the furnace, and guides located above
the track at the top of the furnace and adapted to guide it in position for dumping
the part of the car which has been so elevated.
4. The combination with a blast-furnace, of a track leading to its top, a tipping
skip, car or truck, having wheels movable upon said track, and lifting mechanism
at the top of the furnace for lifting the rear part of the car from the track into
position for dumping.
5. In a blast furnace, the combination with a vertically movable charging bell,
of a supporting rod therefor, mechanism connected to the upper end of the rod for
imparting a vertical movement thereto, and an intermediate guide for said rod
arranged to ensure vertical movement of the bell and prevent swinging of the rod.
Dated this Sixth day of February 1899.