Improvements in means for feeding granular materials through hoppers and like containers

摘要

956,293. Hoppers. NIAGARA ENGINEERING CO. Ltd. May 16, 1962 [Feb. 16, 1961], No. 5830/61. Heading B8S. To discharge wet material, which may be of a putty-like consistency, from a fuel or other hopper a vertical wall 5 of the hopper is fitted with a reciprocatory plate 41 and an endless conveyer 20 is mounted to feed material over a base plate 15 which slopes downwardly towards an outlet at the base of the vertical wall 5, discharge being effected by a stepwise operation on the conveyer in synchronizm with the reciprocation of the plate 41. The drive of the latter is from a motor shaft 48 on which are mounted eccentric discs 47 whose rotation raises and lowers a pair of connecting rods 45 which engage brackets 42 secured to the plate 41. The conveyer 20, a scraper conveyer, is driven by a sprocket 17 through the agency of a rocking plate 32, Fig. 1A. This plate carries an abutment 37 which has a lost-motion arc between fixed and adjustable stops 36, 38, carried by a pawl plate 31. Only when abutment 37 contacts stop 38 does the plate 32 cause the pawl 33 of the pawl plate to rotate a ratchet 29 keyed to the shaft 17. A lever 52 pivoted to plate 32 is articulated to a lever 50, Fig. 1, (not shown), connected in turn to one of the connecting rods 45 which drive the plate 41. In this way it is ensured that the conveyer advance is operative during the upward movement of plate 41, the length of each advance being controlled by the setting of stop 38. The size of the hopper outlet is adjustable by bodily movement of the base-plate 15 and conveyer 20, effected by a sprocket and chain 25, 26. In the application of the invention to furnace stoking the hopper is mounted as shown on the inlet of a rotary blade-type mechanical stoker 1. Specifications 467,223, 467,224, 701,600 and 899,636 are referred to.