An Improved Attachment for Blast Furnaces, Cupolas, and the like.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 19th Nov., 1897-Accepted, 1st Jan.,
1898
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Attachment for Blast Furnaces, Cupolas, and the like.
I, CARL DIETRICH, of 245 Bahnhofstrasse, Elsterwerda, in the Empire of
Germany, Manufacturer, 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:-
-
This invention relates to an improved apparatus and arrangement for introduc-
ing small quantities in powder, of for example, manganese, aluminium, or the
like, into blast or other furnaces as a means of purifying or rendering homogeneous
the metal treated; and its object is to provide an apparatus whereby the powder
is introduced steadily and equally.
The invention consists (broadly speaking) of arranging upon the air blast pipe
leading to the furnace, a vessel containing the said powder having a screw shaft
feeding it compactly from the bottom of the said vessel into the pipe of the air
blast, and also having suitable mechanism in conjunction with the said screw to
facilitate the working thereof.
The method of carrying the invention into effect is illustrated in part vertical
section and elevation on the accompanying drawing, and is constructed and
operated as follows:-The blast pipe e of the furnace or cupola into which the
powder is to be introduced, has fixed upon it in any suitable manner a trough or
as shown. A worm c
canal d with a discharge nozzle leading into the blast pipe
fits the trough d and is carried upon a shaft revolving in suitable bearings in the
ends of the trough. A powder reservoir a is fixed upon a converging hopper b
which leads into and forms a portion of the trough d, and the said reservoir is
closed by means of an air tight cover a'; and further, it has arranged upon its
sides a glass panel a" which forms a gauge or reading glass to determine the
quantity of powder within.
A horizontal shaft a preferably arranged parallel with the shaft of the worm c,
is placed at the bottom of the reservoir «, and it has fixed upon it knife stirrers a¹
of such relative lengths that upon rotation of the said shaft the stirrers continually
agitate the powder lying in the hopper, and cause it to be fed steadily on to the
first helices of the worm c. The shaft of the worm c and the stirrer shaft a² are
suitably geared together by the pinion fl and gear wheel f keyed upon their
respective ends. The shaft a² is operated in the first instance by a rope drive
upon the pulley g which is fixed upon the same nave as the gear wheel and is
keyed thereto when desired by the bolt pin g². The worm and knife stirrers are
thus simultaneously operated, and it is to be clearly understood any other method
of driving or gearing these two together may be used without departing from the
subject of the present invention.
The operation of the herein before described mechanism is as follows:-The
reservoir a is filled with a powder which it is desired to introduce into combina-
tion with the smelted metal, and upon actuating the pulley g the worm feeds
forward the powder in a compact mass at any predetermined rate, while the
stirrers agitating the powder cause it to descend continuously upon the first
helices of the worm; the powder falling down the nozzle into the air blast

page_text: conduit e to meet the said blast and be carried forward in a finely divided state
into the furnace or cupola. The feeding forward of the powder by the worm in
a practically solid body along the trough, prevents the air blowing back, while
the air-tight cover upon the reservoir also prevents this occurring. At any time
the quantity of powder in the reservoir may be seen by reading the gauge glass a³.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:-
1. In improved attachments to blast furnaces, cupolas and the like, the provision
of a reservoir leading by a hopper into a pipe or trough in which a worm revolves,
while the said worm leads at one end by a suitable nozzle into the main blast pipe
of the furnace or cupola, and has at the hopper end stirrers continuously revolv-
ing and causing powder contained in the reservoir to descend upon the adjacent
helices of the worm, all as a means for feeding regularly and equally powder
purifying or like material into the said cupola or furnace.
2. An improved attachment for blast furnaces, cupolas and the like substan-
tially as and for the purposes herein before described with reference to the accom-
panying drawing.
MARKS & CLERK,
18, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., and
13, Temple Street, Birmingham, Agents.