US3550205A - Cheek plate for briquetting apparatus - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 29, 1970 J, R, GUSEMAN ETAL 3,550,205

CHEEK PLATE FOR BRIQUET'I'ING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 15, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 u f nun DUDE] nun u n 41 ll I mmvrans .mmrs R. case-m a 00mm 5. ROHAUS W c/i gm Attorneys Dec. 29, 1970 GUSEMAN ETAL 3,550,205

' CHEEK PLATE FOR BRIQUETTING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 15, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS JAMES R. GUSEMAN 8 DONALD E: ROI-MUS Attorney United States Patent 3,550,205 CHEEK PLATE FOR BRIQUE'ITING APPARATUS James R. Guseman, North Huntingdon, and Donald E. Rohaus, Monroeville, Pa., assignors to United States Steel Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Filed Nov. 15, 1968, Ser. No. 776,040

Int. Cl. B29c 3/02 US. C]. 18-21 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An improved cheek plate for use in enclosing the space between the rolls of apparatus for briquetting granular material, such as iron ore fines. The cheek pate has a lower section pivotally connected to a fixed upper section. As the surface on the lower section exposed to the iron ore wears away, the lower section can be pivoted to plug the gap left by the worn surface.

This invention relates to apparatus for briquetting granular material, such as iron ore fines. More particularly, the invention relates to an improved cheek plate that is used to enclose the space between the briquetting rolls of such apparatus.

Briquetting machines, or briquetting apparatus, are used throughout the steel industry, as well as non-ferrous industries to agglomerate ore fines and other granular solids to form pellets or briquettes. With most apparatus, a screw feeder force feeds granular material between two counter-rotating, pocketed briquetting rolls. Cheek plates are placed on either side of the space between the briquetting rolls to prevent the granular material from escaping laterally from between the rolls. These cheek plates are subject to great wear by the abrasive action of the granular material under pressure from the screw feeder above the check plates.

The cheek plates wear away fastest at their bottom ends, which are nearest to where the lariquetting rolls come together. This wearing away leaves a space for the granular material to escape at a gradually increasing rate, which causes considerable problems. For instance, when new cheek plates are installed in an iron ore briquetting apparatus, the rate of leakage of iron fines from around the cheek plates is about to of the rate at which the fines are fed through the screw feeder. As the cheek plates wear away, this leakage rate increases to about or When the cheek plates allow that much material to escape, it is considered uneconomical to continue to operate the briquetting apparatus. The apparatus must, therefore, be shut down and the cheek plates replaced. Shutdowns for repair or replacement of check plates have been required about three times as often as the shutdowns for resurfacing of the briquetting rolls. These frequent shutdowns are expensive, mainly because of the loss of valuable production time.

Existing cheek plates also cause a process control problem, arising from the increasing rate at which the granular material leaks from around the cheek plates. It is difficult to determine the granular material requirements for a given briquetting apparatus when there is a varying rate of material leakage through the cheek plates of the apparatus.

One way of reducing the maintenance on the cheek plate has been to make the entire cheek plate, or at least the face thereof, of an abrasive-resistant alloy, so that the cheek plate will not wear out as fast. However, the tendency of abrasive-resistant alloys to be brittle has a serious disadvantage in this application. The cheek plates are subject to the great pressure of the adjacent granular material that is being compressed by the screw feeder, and this pressure is enough to crack brittle alloy components 3,550,205 Patented Dec. 29, 1970 of the cheek plate. Also, the abrasive-resistant alloys, like other materials, wear away gradually, and the problem of an irregular leakage rate still exists.

Therefore it is an object of our invention to provide an improved cheek plate for briquetting granular material that is adjustable to compensate for wear, requires less frequent replacement than past cheek plates, and keeps the leakage of the granular material from around the cheek plate to a constant low rate.

This and other objects will appear more readily from the following detailed description of our invention, and the attached drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevation of apparatus for briquetting granular material such as iron ore fines, with a portion thereof broken away;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the apparatus of FIG. 1, with a portion thereof broken away;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a portion of the apparatus of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a portion of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, taken along line IV-IV of FIG. 2.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, apparatus 2 includes briquetting rolls 4 that are provided with pockets 6. The rolls 4 have shafts 4a journaled in bearings 7, and the rolls rotate in the directions shown by arrows a (FIG. 1). At the line of contact XX of the rolls 4, the pockets 6 of each roll come together to compress loose iron ore into a briquette.

The loose iron ore feeds into the pockets 6 just above line XX (FIG. 2), by means of a screw feeder 8, rotating in a conical hopper 10. On either side of the space between the rolls 4, immediately above the line XX, are cheek plates 12. These cheek plates prevent the ore particles from escaping laterally from between the rolls 4, while they are being pressed by the screw feeder 8 into the pockets 6 of the rolls.

According to our invention each cheek plate 12, as shown in detail in FIGS. 3 and 4 has a fixed top section 14 attached by bolt 15 to wall 16 of the supporting framework of the apparatus 2. Dished surface 18 on top section 14 directs granular ore from the conical hopper 10 inwardly into the area between the converging pockets 6 of rolls 4. A concave surface 19 forms the underside of top section 14, and a post 20 hangs from the center of surface 19. Each cheek plate 12 also has a movable section 21, which pivots about a pin 22 at the bottom end of post 20. Slot 23 in movable section 21 accommodates the post 20 and allows about a 20 rotation of the movable section 21 about pin 22. Top surface 24 of movable section 21 is preferably in the shape of a circle centered about pin 22, so that there is no interference with the top section 12 when the movable section 21 is pivoted. The movable section 21 is maintained at its desired angular position about pin 22 by a threaded rod 26, which is pivotally connected to the movable section 21 by a pin 30. The rod 26 passes through hole 32 in wall 16, and a nut 34 threadably engages the rod 26 on the side of the wall 16 opposite from the cheek plate. Cover plate 36 is mounted on wall 16 and keeps the nut 34 from moving outwardly from the wall, so that one may adjust the position of movable section 21 by turning the nut 34 on the rod 26. The forward and backward adjustment of movable section 21 is limited by the rear or front wall of slot 23 engaging the post 20.

The movable section 21 has a wear surface 37 facing the briquetting rolls 4. The side edges of wear surface 37 do not quite contact the side surfaces 38 of the rolls 4, but these surfaces are brought close enough to form a substantially closed chamber for the iron ore being pressed into the pockets 6.

The wear surface 37 of a new movable section 21, such as that on the right side of FIG. 4, is straight and bridges the space between the rolls 4 so that little or no iron ore escapes. However, as the apparatus is used, the surface 37 wears away, particularly at its bottom, where the greatest abrasive action by the ore particles takes place. The surface 37 eventually wears back to chain-line 37' (FIG. 4). If no adjustment is made for such Wear, large amounts of ore will escape between the bottom end of the movable section 21 and the briquetting rolls 4-.

To compensate for the wear on cheek plate 12, the operator simply turns nut 34 to rotate movable section 21 to the position of the worn cheek plate section 21 on the left side of FIG. 4. Even though this section 21 has had substantial wear, it still bridges the space between rolls 4 almost as well as the new movable section 21 on the right side of FIG. 4. The bolts 34 on cheek plates 12 should be turned regularly during use of the apparatus 2, so that as little ore as possible escapes past the cheek plates. For best results this is done by moving wear surfaces 37 of movable sections 21 into contact with the side surfaces 3 8 of rolls 4 and then turning nut 34 back one or two turns so that the surfaces 37 and 38 do not quite contact each other.

By providing the above described movable sections 21 for cheek plates 12, an operator of a briquetting apparatus can substantially reduce his down-time and costs for maintenance. The movable sections 21 of cheek plates 12 will not have to be removed for repair or replacement nearly as frequently as the conventional one-piece cheek plates. Also, the adjustment of nuts 34 is a simple operation that enables the operator to keep the leakage of granular ore from around the cheek plates 12 down to a constant, low rate.

We claim:

1. In apparatus for briquetting granular material having a pair of briquetting rolls rotatable about spaced apart parallel axes, and a support member laterally spaced from said rolls:

an improved cheek plate for containing granular material in the space between said rolls, said cheek plate comprising a movable cheek plate section pivotally connected to said support member and pivotal toward and away from said rolls, means connected to said support member of said apparatus for holding said movable cheek plate section in a fixed position about said pivotal axis, said movable cheek plate section having a face surface which in said fixed position substantially bridges one lateral side of said space between said briquetting rolls, said means for holding said movable cheek plate section in said fixed position being adjustable to pivot said cheek plate section to a new position to compensate for wear on said face surface and maintain said face surface in a position wherein the surface substantially bridges said lateral side of said space between the briquetting rolls. 2. The cheek plate of claim 1 wherein said adjustable means for holding said movable cheek plate section in a fixed position includes a rod pivoted to said movable section, a nut threaded onto said rod, and means on said support member for slidably supporting said rod and for constraining said nut from substantial forward and backward movement in a direction parallel to the axis of said rod.

3. The cheek plate of claim 1 including a top cheek plate section fixed to said support means,

said movable cheek plate section being pivotally connected to said top cheek plate section and positioned between said top cheek plate section and said axes of said rolls,

said top cheek plate section having an upper face surface aligned with the first mentioned face surface of said movable cheek plate section, said upper face surface bridging said lateral side of said space between said briquetting rolls and having a dished out area for directing said granular material in front of the face surface of said movable cheek plate section and between said briquetting rolls.

4. The cheek plate of claim 3 wherein said adjustable means for holding said movable cheek plate section in a fixed position includes a rod pivoted to said movable section, a nut threaded onto said rod, and means on said support member for slidably supporting said rod and for constraining said nut from substantial forward and backward movement in a direction parallel to the axis of said rod.

5. The cheek plate of claim 4 wherein said movable cheek plate section has a slot facing said top cheek plate section, and said top cheek plate section includes a post extending into said slot,

said cheek plate having means pivotally connecting said post to said movable cheek plate section,

the edges of said slot facing toward and away from said briquetting rolls being positioned to allow rotation of said movable cheek plate section about said pivotal connecting means.

6. In apparatus of claim 1 having support members on opposite sides of said rolls:

two improved cheek plates according to claim 1, each of said cheek plates being mounted on one of said support members, and the face surfaces of said cheek plate sections forming with said briquetting rolls a substantially closed passageway for feeding granular material to said briquetting rolls.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,405,788 2/1922 Komarek 2577. 2,306,161 12/1942 Frenkel 2577 3,072,043 1/1963 Decker et al. 1821X WILLIAM S. LAWSON, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

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