Device for immobilizing the chute on the ends of journals in an apparatus for loading a shaft furnace

Abstract

A device for immobilising the spout on the ends of the trunnions, in a charging installation for a shaft furnace comprising a pivoting material distribution spout (1), the spout being connected to the supporting trunnions (2) by lugs (11) which engage in receptacles (21) formed in the trunnions and which are immobilised therein by pins (3) comprising at their end an eccentric nipple (31) engaging with a lug of the spout to hold the lug immobilised at the bottom of its receptacle, and locking means (4) for rotationally locking the pin. Each pin comprises, at the outer, opposite end thereof from the nipple, means (32) for rotational adjustment and tightening, so as to be able to press the nipple onto the lug of the spout with sufficient force by rotation of the pin, and the locking means comprise an indexing plate (41) connected for rotation to the end of the pin (3), the plate (41) further comprising teeth (416) arranged to cooperate with the corresponding teeth (421) of a lock (42) secured to the trunnion, in such a way that said lock can rotationally immobilise the pin in a plurality of circumferential positions of said pin.

Claims

1. A device for immobilizing a spout on ends of trunnions, in a charging installation for a shaft furnace comprising a material distribution spout mounted to pivot about a horizontal axis by means of the trunnions rotating in bearings of a supporting shell having a vertical axis of rotation, the spout being connected to the trunnions by lugs at an upper end of the spout which engage in receptacles formed in inner ends of the trunnions and which are immobilized therein by pins accommodated in the trunnions and having an axis parallel to the axis of the trunnions, each pin comprising at an inner end oriented towards the vertical axis an eccentric nipple engaging with a lug of the spout to hold the lug immobilized at a bottom of a receptacle, and locking means for rotationally locking the pin, wherein each pin comprises, at an outer, opposite end thereof from the nipple, means for rotational adjustment and tightening, so as to be able to press the nipple onto the lug of the spout with sufficient force by rotation of the pin, and wherein the locking means comprises an indexing plate connected for rotation to the end of the pin, the indexing plate further comprising teeth arranged to cooperate with corresponding teeth of a lock secured to the trunnion, in such a way that said lock can rotationally immobilize the pin in a plurality of circumferential positions of said pin.

2. A device according to claim 1, wherein the indexing plate is connected for rotation to the pin by rotational connecting means arranged to ensure rotational connection in various relative angular positions.

3. A device according to claim 2, wherein the rotational connecting means have a polygonal shape formed on the pin which cooperates with a cutout of suitable shape formed in the indexing plate.

4. A device according to claim 3, wherein the polygonal shape of the pin is continued towards the outer end of the pin so as also to serve as means for rotational adjustment and tightening.

5. A device according to claim 3, wherein the polygonal shape of the pin is hexagonal and the cutout in the indexing plate takes the form of a double hexagon.

6. A device according to claim 1, wherein the indexing plate is fixed to an outer, front end of the trunnion and serves as an axial stop for the pin.

7. A device according to claim 1, wherein the indexing plate is fixed to the trunnion by bolts passing through slots in the indexing plate, said slots comprising an arc of a circle centered on the axis of rotation of the pin.

8. A device according to claim 1, wherein the lock comprises a plate comprising the teeth of the lock which engage with the teeth of the indexing plate.

9. A device according to claim 8, wherein the teeth of the indexing plate and of the lock plate are arranged along arcs of circles centered on the axis of rotation of the pin.

10. A device according to claim 8, wherein the lock plate is fixed to the outer, front end of the trunnion by bolts passing through slots in the lock plate, said slots comprising arcs of circles centered on the axis of rotation of the pin.

11. A device according to claim 8, comprising lateral stop means for limiting travel of the lock plate in a circumferential direction.

12. A device according to claim 11, wherein the lateral stop means comprise a side wall of a receptacle formed in the outer, front end of the trunnion and in which the lock plate is fixed, said side wall of the receptacle comprising a stop for one end of the lock plate.

13. A device according to claim 12, wherein the ends of the lock plate are offset by half a tooth pitch relative to the teeth of the lock plate.

14. A device according to claim 8, wherein the indexing plate is accommodated in a receptacle formed at the front end of the trunnion, the receptacle comprising side walls which constitute stops for the pivoting of the indexing plate, with angular play to enable the indexing plate to be placed in the receptacle whatever the angular position of the pin.

15. A device according to claim 14, wherein the indexing plate is connected for rotation to the pin by rotational connecting means arranged to ensure rotational connection in various relative angular positions, wherein the rotational connecting means have a polygonal shape formed on the pin which cooperates with a cutout of suitable shape formed in the indexing plate, wherein the polygonal shape of the pin is hexagonal and the cutout in the indexing plate takes the form of a double hexagon, and wherein an angular play between the indexing plate and the side walls of the receptacle thereof is 30 degrees.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Other details and features of the invention will emerge from the following detailed description of one advantageous embodiment, provided by way of illustration with reference to the appended drawings, in which:

(2) FIG. 1, which has already been commented on, is a view of the connection between the spout and the supporting trunnions;

(3) FIG. 2 is a general view of the system for supporting the spout and driving the pivoting movement thereof, viewed from the outer, front end of a trunnion;

(4) FIG. 3 is a view in axial section of the trunnion, in the radial plane containing the pin;

(5) FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the pin equipped with the indexing plate and with the locking plate;

(6) FIG. 5 is a view in cross-section along line V-V of FIG. 3;

(7) FIGS. 6 and 7 show two alternative positions of the locking plate engaged with the teeth of the indexing plate.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(8) The system for supporting the spout shown in FIG. 2 and for driving the pivoting movement thereof comprises, on each side of the spout, a bearing 22 in which the trunnion 2 is fitted to rotate about a horizontal axis A1 and driven pivotably by a mechanism comprising a gear casing 23, an output shaft of which bears a pinion 24 meshing with a toothed sector 25 of a control arm 26 connected for rotation with the trunnion.

(9) On the outer, front end 29 of the trunnion 2, that is to say the opposite end face of the trunnion from the end comprising the receptacle 21 for the lugs 11 of the spout 1, revolving joints 28 are connected, so as there to connect ducts serving in internal cooling of the trunnions. Also visible, in an eccentric position relative to the axis A1, are the opposite end 32, hexagonal in shape, of the pin 3 from the eccentric nipple 31 which cooperates with the lug 11 of the spout to immobilize it in its receptacle 21, as indicated at the beginning of this description in relation to FIG. 1, and the means 4 for rotationally immobilizing the pin 3 on the trunnion, which particularly comprise an indexing plate 41 and a locking plate 42.

(10) FIG. 3, which shows a trunnion in axial section, reveals the trunnion 2 mounted in the bearing 22 for rotation about the horizontal axis A1, together with the receptacle 21 intended to receive the lug 11 of the spout, and an axial cooling channel 27 to which the revolving joint 28 is connected.

(11) The pin 3 is mounted to revolve and slide in an axial bore A2 of the trunnion parallel and eccentric relative to the axis A1. Its inner end, located towards the spout, comprises the eccentric nipple 31 which, in the spout immobilizing position, protrudes axially into the receptacle 21 so as to engage in the hole formed to this end in the lug 11 of the spout. At its outer, opposite end 32 from the nipple 31, the pin takes the form of a hexagon 321 which is engaged with a hole in the form of a double hexagon 411 formed in the indexing plate 41, and protrudes beyond this plate so that a tightening key can be positioned thereon to turn the pin 3 about its axis A2 and thus to turn the eccentric nipple and immobilize the spout lug in its receptacle, as indicated above. The indexing plate 41 is accommodated in a receptacle 5 formed to this immobilizes outer, front end of the trunnion and, being fixed at the bottom of this receptacle, axially immobilizes the pin to prevent the eccentric nipple from becoming disengaged from the hole in the spout lug due to axial sliding of the pin.

(12) As can readily be seen in FIGS. 4 and 5, the indexing plate 41 comprises two arms 412, 413 extending in substantially diametrically opposed directions, in which oblong slots 414 are formed in arcs of circles centered on the axis A2 of the pin. Fixing bolts 415, passing through these slots and screwed into the trunnion, allow the indexing plate 41 to be clamped against a front wall 51 constituting the bottom of the receptacle 5, so rotationally immobilizing the indexing plate and therefore the pin.

(13) One of the arms 413 bears at its end spur teeth 416 in the form of an arc of a circle, centered on the axis A2, which engage with corresponding teeth 421 formed on the locking plate 42. The locking plate 42 comprises an oblong slot 422 through which passes a bolt 423 for fixing the locking plate in the receptacle 5 of the trunnion.

(14) The locking plate 42 is accommodated in one part 52 of the receptacle 5 comprising a side wall 53 arranged to receive in abutment one of the ends 424, 425 of the locking plate 42. The receptacle 5 further comprises two side walls 54, 55 facing the side faces of the arms 412 and 413, but arranged so that play j1, j2 remains overall between said arms and said side walls, allowing overall an angular clearance j1+j2 of the indexing plate which is equal to, or slightly greater than, 30, this being necessary to allow the indexing plate 41 both to be placed in the receptacle 5 and on the hexagonal end 32 of the pin 2, whatever the angular position of said pin.

(15) As can be seen in FIGS. 6 and 7, the ends 424, 425 of the fixing plate are offset by half a pitch relative to the teeth, such that, by turning the plate over, it is possible as far as possible to ensure, whatever the angular position of the pin and of the indexing plate, both engagement of the teeth of the indexing plate and of the locking plate, and abutment of the locking plate against the side wall 53 of its receptacle. Thus if, as a result of the angular position in which the pin is located after having immobilized the spout by rotation of said pin, engagement of the teeth would lead, with the locking plate facing in a first direction, to play between the end 424 of the locking plate and the side wall 53 as shown in FIG. 6, it is possible to eliminate or at least reduce this play by turning over the locking plate such that the other end 425 is then in abutment, without play, against the side wall 53, as shown in FIG. 7.

(16) To put a spout 1 in position, the lugs 11 thereof are placed in the receptacles 21 of the supporting trunnions 2. Then, on each side, the pin 3 is pushed axially so as to cause the eccentric nipple 31 to penetrate into the hole in the lug 11. By means of a key engaged with the six-sided end 32 of the pin, it is possible to turn the pin until the nipple 31 immobilizes the lug 11 in the receptacle 21. In this position, the indexing plate 41 is adjusted on the hexagon 321 of the end of the pin such that said plate is inserted into the receptacle 5 in the front end of the trunnion with minimum play, and the bolts 415 are tightened so as to clamp the indexing plate 41 against the bottom 51 of its receptacle, so immobilizing the pin axially and rotationally. The locking plate 42 is then positioned in the direction which ensures zero or minimal play between the end 424 or 425 of the locking plate and the wall 53 of its receptacle, and the locking plate retaining bolt 423 is tightened.

(17) Thanks to the various relative angular positions between the pin and the indexing plate which may be obtained by engagement of the double hexagon shape of the indexing plate with the hexagonal shape 321 of the end of the pin, and thanks to the teeth 416, 421, which may engage respectively with an angular pitch corresponding to the pitch of the teeth, and thanks to the possibility of turning the locking plate over, it is ultimately possible to ensure reliable, virtually play-free locking of the pin whatever its angular position. Moreover, as already indicated, there is a triple safeguard, making it possible to prevent the spout from falling off even if the locking plate were to disappear and the bolts of the indexing plate to come loose.

(18) The invention is not limited to the embodiment described above by way of example. Instead of a hexagonal shape at the end of the pin to allow rotation thereof by a key, any other form could be used provided it fits with the tightening tool used. The hexagonal and double-hexagonal shapes of the connection between the indexing plate and the pin could also be replaced by other polygonal shapes with the same function, for example a square on the pin and a double square in the indexing plate, the play j1 and j2 then being adapted accordingly.