GB809986A - Electrode clamp - Google Patents

Abstract

809,986. Furnace electrode holders. SUNROD MANUFACTURING CORPORATION. March 27, 1957 [April 13, 1956], No. 10062/57. Class 39(3) A furnace electrode clamp comprises a plurality of arcuate conductor shoes having wedge 'faces co-operating with wedge members which are interconnected in groups of at least two so that any wedge member moving with a wedge face transmits opposite movement to another wedge member or members. As shown, an electrode clamp comprises six arcuate contact shoes 1 each supported by two electrical conductors 5 from a bus ring 6 consisting of two tubular rings 7 and 8 joined by clamps 9, a water cooled mantle 4 with a lower reinforced annular portion 12 and upper and lower sections 4a and 4b hung from a suspension ring 10 which is supported by three straps 84, and six wedge members W. A hydraulic cylinder 59 with its associated linkage mechanism connected between the suspension ring 10 and the bus ring 6 provides power to move the latter vertically so that the shoes 1 may be forced against the electrode E by the wedging action of the members W. Each shoe has three wedge faces 20 which cooperate with the inner sloping surfaces of three wedges 22 which are arranged on a supporting plate P to form the wedge member W, the outer vertical faces of which co-operate with the reinforced portion 12 of the mantle surface. Rollers or balls are located between the surfaces to decrease friction. Adjacent wedge members are arranged in pairs, and are connected to pivoted levers (Fig. 5, not shown) on the suspension ring 10 by supports 30a and 30b so that the movement of one member transmits opposite movement to the other member, thus equalizing the pressure should one shoe come up against an irregularity on the electrode surface. The shoes 1, the conductors 5, and the bus ring 6 are insulated from the rest of the clamp. Nine contact shoes (Fig. 6, not shown) or twelve contact shoes (Fig. 7, not shown) may be used. The wedge surface slope may be in the opposite direction to that shown, the clamping action then being effected by raising the bus ring and shoes; or the clamp may be supported from the bus ring 6 and the clamping action effected by forcing the suspension ring 10 upwardly,