US1548292A - Furnace - Google Patents

Description

U. WEDGE Aug. 4, 1925.

FURNACE 2 Shuts-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 18. 1922 ---u-nhF-I-n----- Aug 4, 1925.

U. WEDGE FURNACE Filed Aug. 18, 1922 2 Shows-Sheet, 2

Patented Aug. 4, 1925.

PATENT OFFICE.

UTIIJEY .WEDGE, 0F ARDMOBE, PENNSYLVANIA.

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Application filed August 1 8; 1922. Serial 1T0. 582,735..

To all whom. it may concern:

Be it known that I, UTLEY WEDGE, a citizen of the United States of America, and resident of Ardmore, in the county of Montgomery, State of Pennsylvania, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Furnaces, of which the following is a true and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawlngs, which form a part thereof.

My invention relates to furnaces and while in many respects adapted for general furnace construction, it is especially designed for application to domestic furnaces for heating houses. Theobject of my inven-.

tion is to provide a furnace which will burn fuel with great efficiency and economy and is especially adapted for economical use with a great variety of fuels.

-The nature of my improvements will be best understood as described in connection with the drawings in which they are illustated and in which I a Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of the furnace and fuelfeeding mechanism shown in connection with mechanism for feeding the coal, rotating the gate, and forcing air into the furnace.

Figure 2 is a plan view on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1..

Figure 3 an elevation at right angles t the view shown in Fig. 1, showing a portion of the actuating mechanism.

Figure 4 is a plan view of the fuel distributor used in connection, with and 'in a sense forming a part of the grate, and

Figure 5 is a sectional elevation showin a modification cf the grate and of the as hoppers.

A is a base plate having a central annular rim A. Sup-ported on the plate A is the casing A having, as shown, a bearing sur- Y face A and an opening A? for the entrance of air. The upper part of this casing, indicated at A, in connection with the movable part indicated at A", forms an enclosing cas ing for the gear mechanism to be described, the bearing, indicated at A, and the rotatable sleeve H. A A are angle iron columns supporting at their tops the angle iron ring indicated at B and through brackets, as shown, the ring indicated at B. B is the bottom plate of the furnace supported on the rings B and B. B is an annular ring forming the bottom of the furnace chamber and supporting the casing E which forms the top of the furnace chamber and is provided with a centrally located opening indicated at E for the delivery of'fuel. E E etc. are flues leading from the top of the furnace, the annular flue or drum E from which leads the smoke pipe indicated at E and an inspection conduit indicated at E. E indicates an opening leading into the furnace by which access can be had to the internal mechanism. F is a vertical pipe stepped in the annular rim and having openings in its bottom indicated at F for the entrance of air and openings at its top indicated at F through which the air escapes into the bottom of the furnace. G is a portion of the grate acting as a fuel distributor and is secured to the top of the pipe F. H is a sleeve surrounding the pipe -F and su ported, as shown, on ball bearings in icated at HQ To this sleeve is attached the gear wheel H by means of which, and mechanism to be described, it is rotated. To the to of the sleeve H is secured the annular plate ndicated at H, H H, on which issupported the rotatable grate indicated at ll. In the portion H? of the annular plate before mentioned is formed the openin H to which is connected an ash receptac e indicated at J" and in the bottom plate B is formed the opening B to which is connected the ash receptacle indicated at J. H" H indicate ash sweepers secured to the plate H", H H, as shown, and moving with said plate. At H H are ash sweepers secured to the pipe F and in the organization shown remain stationary. K is a fuel hopper having an open bottom K and set in a cylini drical c'asin having a flat bottom K at one side of whic is formed an opening K o ning into a conveyor tube K in wliic is located a conveyor screw K by which the fuel is moved to the opening E. K is a gear wheel secured to the shaft of the conveyor K and engaged by a. gear K on the 1m shaft K which, as shown, is provided with a universal joint K and a gear wheel K at its bottom. K is a rotating disc located beneath the hopper bottom above the flat plate K and rotated by means of a shaft K hav- 1 ving a gear wheel K secured to its bottom,

as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. K is a swee r extending over the edge of the rotatin isc K so as to sweep the fuel from the e gs of this plate into the opening-K 1 L is an electric motor actuating the shaft L, oneen'd of which actuates the fan indicated at M, on the other end of which is secured the worm L engaged with the worm wheel L secured to the shaft L", on the ends of which shaft are secured the slotted crank arms indicated at L, L. The crankarm L actuates the connecting rod N which is 'connected to the arm N of a lever N N pivoted on the shaft and acting through pawls N and a ratchet wheel 0 on the shaft 0 which shaft, through a worm indicated at 0 engages the worm wheel K and actua ors the shaft I. The crank arm L actuates the connecting rod a which, through the lever In the modification illustrated in Fig. 5,,

the flat outer grate indicated 21 is secured to the top of the sleeve H, being attached to the flange h, as shown. To this flange are also attached the sore ers H, which move over the bottom plate 3 in which is formed the usual opening 12 leading into the ash receptacle 9'. The circular rate is formed .with a downwardly extending flange indicated at i which is shown extended to the annular gutter indicated at T. it indicates a scraper secured in fixed position and 0 erating to sweep ash from the outer edge 0 the grate into the ash receptacle indicated at S. In operation the hopper K is filled with fuel which, of course, rests upon the rotatingdisc or table K"; the motor being in operation the disc'K is rotated by a series of intermittent movements imparted by the.

ratchet movement described. The worm feed K is rotated by the described mechanism and an intermittent rotative movement given to the shaft P and through it and the describedgearing, to the sleeve H and the annular plate H H H and tothe grate por tion supported on this plate. At the same t1me the fan is actuated, driving air through the conduit M into the casing A and through the vertical ipe F into the space beneath the grate. T e fuel fed tothe furnace chamber falls through the opening E on to the top of the fuel distributor G and on to the top of. the grate portion I, and, as the grate revolves, the fuel is pushed out by the distributor which, as shown and above described is stationary; although of -course it operates in the safiie. way as though the distributor rotated and the outer grate stood ntaaaaa still. The air blast finds its waythrough the" grate and the products of combustion pass ofi" through the vertical drums E, the

angular drum E and the smoke pipe E;

H H H and the stationary sweepers H a sweep itinto the opening H and into the ash receptacle J; such ash as approaches the outer rim or" H is swept ofi the plate and into the opening B by the sweeper H and is caught in the receptacle J.

. Obviously the rate at which fuel is fed to the furnace, the amount of air supplied and the speed of rotation of the grate should vary with the amount of heat required and this is readily provided for by the provision of a thermostat, as indicated in Fig. 3, to control the s eed of the motor.

In the mo ification shown in Fig. 5, a flat grate is used and stationary hoppers are provided for the ash which passes through the grate and the ash which is swept olf from the top of the grate. In other respects the operation of the modified device is practically the same as that already described.

While in my claims I refer to the two positions of my grate as being one stationary and the other relatively movable, it will be obvious that both may'move so long as there is such relative diiference in their rotative movement as to result in the central element acting to push the fuel outward over the outer element. That is to say, my claims are intended to cover all equivalents. Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a furnace for burning solid carbonaceous fuel in a shallow shiftmg layer moving radially outward over the grate, a relatively rotating perforated grate in combination with a relatively stationary fuel usher of relatively small diameter centrally ocated'above and close to the grate surface and characterized by having obliquely set pusher arms angled with reference to \the rotating grate surface to push the fuel lyin between them on the grate surface outwar onto the outer portion of the grate and centrally located means for feeding fresh fuel over the fuel pusher and between itspusher I to push the fuel lying between them on the grate surface outward onto the outer por' tion of the grate and centrally located means solid carbonfor feeding fresh fuel over the fuel pusher and between its pusher arms. 1

3. In a furnace for burnin solid carbonaceous fuel in a shallow shifting layer moving radially outward over the grate, a rotating perforated grate in combinatlon with a stationary fuel pusher of relatively small diameter centrall located above and close to the grate sur ace and characterized by having obliquely set pusher arms angled with reference to the rotating grate surface to push the fuel lying between them on the grate surface outward onto the outer portion of the grate, centrally located means for feeding fresh fuel over the fuel pusher and between its pusher arms. an ashreceptacle below and at one side of the grate and a sweeper operating on the edge of the rotating grate to sweep ash into the receptacle.

4. In a furnace for'burning solid fuel the combination with a furnace chamber of a grate for supporting the fuel made up of a stationary cam shaped central portion and a rotatable perforated outer portion, said cam shaped central portion being so formed as to'progressively ush the fuel outward onto and over the per orated outer portion, a coni veyor for feeding fuel to the centre of the grate, a fuel hopper having a rotating disc located below its bottom opening, a scraper arranged to sweep fuel from said disc into the conveyor, an air conduit opening below the grate and power means for rotatmg the disc and grate.

UTLEY WEDGE.

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