US2132591A - Cleaning slab for continuous furnaces - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 11, 1938.

J. w. WElSEN CLEANING SLAB FOR CONTINUOUS FURNACES Filed Sept. 20, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 JOSEPH W Wig/55M,

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Oct. 11, 1938. J w. w N 2,132,591

CLEANING SLAB FOR CONTINUOU FURNACES Filed Sept. 20, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet. 2

mom/ r JOSEPH /1 M's/557v,

Patented Oct. 11, 1938 PATENT OFFICE CLEANING SLAB FOR CONTINUOUS.

FURNACES Joseph W. Weisen, Pittsburgh, Pa.

' Application September 20, 1937, Serial No. 164,783

9 Claims.

This invention relates to continuous reheating furnaces and, particularly, to an improved device for use in cleaning the hearth of same.

' As steel slabs, blooms, or billets are reheated in a continuous furnace for rolling they tend to lose part of their scale as they pass therethrough. This scale tends to melt and accumulate on the hearth of the furnace, thus necessitating frequent cleaning or scraping of the same. If this deposit in is not cleaned from the hearth, it will tend to cause coldspots in the metal as it passes thereover which is, of course, very undesirable.

Heretofore, it has usually been the practice to shut down the furnace and to lift each slab, billet or bloom ofi the hearth and support it by means of steel blocks or some other suitablev means while the hearth was scraped and thoroughly cleaned of the accumulation of cinder and scale. This was very disagreeable and tedious and was usual- 1y done while the furnace was still hot in order to save time. Due to the difliculty experienced in cleaning, the hearths were not thoroughly cleaned 1:01 cleaned as frequently as they should have een.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a means whereby the hearth of continuous reheating furnaces can be easily and quickly cleaned without having to-shut down the furnace.

It is also another object of this invention to provide a cleaning member adapted for use in continuous reheating furnaces whichwill tend to automatically clean the hearth as it passes thereover.

It is a further object of this inventionto provide a cleaning member which will permit free access to the bottom of the hearth for cleaning thesame as it passes thereover while the furnace is in continuous operation.

Various other objects and advantages of my invention will more fully appear during the course of the following specification and will be more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown, for the purpose of illustration, one embodiment which my invention may assume in practice.

1 In the drawings:

50 Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view through a continuous reheating furnace showing the improved cleanout slab of my invention passing therethrough.

Figure 2 is a sectional view on the line lI-II 55 of Figure 1, showing a double row of slabs.

Figure 3 is a plan view of my improved cleanout slab.

Figure 4 is a side elevation thereof.

Figure 5 is an end view thereof.

Continuous reheating furnaces are usually charged through a door at one end thereof and the steel slabs, billets or blooms fed into and moved continuously therethrough by some suitable means, and discharged at the opposite end. In the continuous furnace shown in the accompanying drawings, the steel slabs 5 are successively placed in side-by-side relation on the entry roller-table 6 at the charging end of the furnace and fed over the skids l, and into the furnace through the opening 8, by means of the mechanical pusher 9, and as each successive slab is charged the slabs that have been previously charged gradually move through the heatedfurnace, over the hearth l0, down the slide II, and out through the discharge door l2.

According to the present invention, there is provided a longitudinally extending slab-like cleaning member l3 of a U-shapcd cross-section having a channel, andflanges l5. 1 This member may becast or fabricated, and preferably has ribs I" to strengthen it so as it will not warp after it has been heated and cooled each time it is used, and can be used for an indefinite number of cleanings.

The flanges or free edges 15 of the member are preferably relieved outwardly as at l5, and have concave or inwardly inclined inner surfaces I'I, so as to form sharp, longitudinally extending, toe-like or plow-like edges 3. It is important that the thickness of the member on all sections, that is, the solid cross-section of the member, be at least equal to, or preferably greater than, the cross-section of the metal slabs or articles to be heated. If this cleaning member is not of suflicient thickness, that is, smaller than the metal articles to be heated, it will tend to melt away and lose its shape and be of no use whatsoever.

Whenever it is desired to clean the hearth surface of the furnace, this U-shaped cleaning slab is placed on the entry table in the charging line in the inverted portion with its flanges extending downwardly just as one of the slabs is placed therein and, likewise, moved through the furnace.

' When the cleaning slab reaches the hearth the doors on the openings 19 on the side of the furnace are opened and each of the successive areas of the hearth, presented to and enclosed by the channel ll of the member, scraped and thoroughly cleaned as the cleaning slab gradually passes from one end thereof to the other. That is, the working area or the area to be cleaned gradually moves forward as the cleaning slab moves over the hearth and as the slabs advance through the furnace. Finally; when the cleaning slab reaches the end of the hearth, it slides down the skids l I and out of the furnace in the same manner as the ordinary slabs and is laid aside and allowed to cool for the next cleaning.

As the cleaning slab passes over the hearth, the sharp inner toe-like or plow-like edges l8 of one of the flanges is adapted to scrape the surface thereof to loosen the accumulated slag or cinders therefrom which can be either removed through the side openings IE or carried alongby the cleaning slab and out of the furnace therewith.

As a result of my invention, it will-be noted that I have provided an inexpensive cleaning member for use in cleaning continuous reheating furnaces which is easy to use and effective in its operation, thereby encouraging its use and resulting in the production of better products and the extension of the lives of the furnaces.

While I have shown and described a specific embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that this is merely for the purpose of illustration and description, and that various other modifications may be devised within the scope of the invention, as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. The method of cleaning the hearth of a continuous furnace for heating 'steel slabs which comprises charging the furnace at one end with steel slabs, feeding and moving said slabs into and through said furnace, periodically placing a channel-like flanged metal cleaning member in the charging line with the flanges thereof extending downwardly and moving the same through the furnace, and cleaning the hearth in under the channel portion of said member from openings in the side of the furnace as said member passes thereover.

2. The method of cleaning the hearth of a continuous furnace for heating steel slabs which comprises charging the furnace at one end with steel slabs, feeding and moving said slabs into and through said furnace, periodically placing a channel-like flanged metal cleaning member in the charging line with the flanges thereof extending downwardly and moving the same through the furnace, and cleaning the entire hearth surface from openings in the side of the furnace by cleaning the successive areas of the hearth enclosed by the channel member as it passes thereover.

3. The method of cleaning the hearth of a continuous furnace for heating steel slabs which comprises charging the furnace at one end with 4. A cleaning slab for use in continuous furnaces for heating metal slabs and the like, comprising a longitudinally extending metal member having .an inverted U-shaped cross-section and adapted to be moved over the furnace hearth 1 with the articles to be heated, said member having a solid cross-section at least as great as the cross-section of the metal articles to be heated, the free ends of the legs of said member being relieved outwardly and the inner vertical faces of 2 said legs being concave so as to form sharp plowlike cutting and scraping edges.

5. A metallic slab for cleaning continuous fur- 4 naces for heating metal slabs and the like comprising a longitudinally extending member hav- 2 ing an inverted U-shaped cross-section.

6. A metallic slab member for cleaning continuous furnaces for heating metal'slabs and the like comprising a longitudinally extending member of inverted U-shaped cross-section, said mem- I ber having at least one of its flanges provided with a sharp scraping edge.

7. A metallic slab for cleaning continuous furnaces for heating metal slabs comprising an inverted channel-like longitudinally extending slablike member having inner sharp edged longitudinally extending flanges which are adapted to clean the hearth as the cleaning slab passes thereover.

8, A metallic slab for cleaning continuous furnaces for heating metal slabs and the like comprising a longitudinally extending metal member having an inverted U-shaped cross-section, said cleaning slab adapted to be placed in the furnace in its inverted position and to be moved over the hearth with the slabs to be heated to clean the same.

9. A metallic slab for cleaning continuous furnaces for heating metal slabs and the like comprising a longitudinally extending metal member having an inverted U-shaped cross-section, and being at least as thick as the metal slabs to be heated, said cleaning slab adapted to be placed in the hearth of the furnace in its inverted position and moved thereover with the slabs to be I heated to clean the same.

JOSEPH W. W'ElZSEN.

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