FR2654812A1 - DEVICE FOR ENSURING THE PASSAGE OF A LOAD THAT MUST REMAIN HORIZONTAL BETWEEN AN UPPER LEVEL AND A LOWER LEVEL. - Google Patents

Abstract

Transfer device for wagons (4) loaded with products to be cooked in a tunnel oven intended to allow said carriages to pass from an upper level outside the oven to a lower level inside the oven. This device consists of a carriage (5, 7, 8) provided at its upper, horizontal part with sections of rails (50, 70, 80) receiving a wagon (4), said carriage (5, 7, 8) being coupled to motor means moving it both vertically and horizontally between the upper level and the lower level.

Description

The present invention relates generally to the installation of

cooking such products

that bricks, tiles and others.

  In a manner known per se, the products to be cooked are placed on supports positioned on wagons The wagons loaded with raw products pass through a tunnel oven at a determined speed so that the products are properly cooked when the wagons

come out of the oven.

  In order to limit the heat losses, it is known to circulate the wagons in an expanse of liquid, for example water. For this purpose, the rails on which the wagons circulate are then submerged and the wagons are completely surrounded by a metallic skirt whose lower periphery is

continuously in the liquid.

  For easily understandable safety reasons, the said body of water is not provided above the factory floor level, which would make it possible to keep the rails on a single plane.

horizontal, but in a pit.

  The fact of thus providing a pit makes it possible not to risk a flooding of the factory but obliges to provide means ensuring the passage of the wagons from the ground level of the factory on which they run during the loading, unloading and storage operations

  at the significantly lower level of the oven.

  The problem of moving wagons from a high level to a low level is complicated by many factors: the wagons being loaded with stacks of products to be cooked, they must remain constantly practically horizontal, the wagons loaded can weigh up to 80 tonnes , usually the wagons are provided with a number of wheels which can reach 16, usually also 2 to 4 running rails are provided to support and guide the wagons, the dimensions of the stations necessary for the introduction and extraction of the cars in and out of the baking oven are already very important and it is often impossible to integrate in a factory

  large new installations.

  In addition, it is of course necessary to carry out the level change at the entrance and at the

  out of the oven which requires two installations.

  In order to move the wagon from one level to another, it has already been proposed to use either lifting tables or inclined ferries, but these installations both pose problems of placing.

in action.

  Lift tables are very expensive to manufacture when it comes to moving loads as large as the 80 tonnes of a wagon whose

surface can reach 40 ma.

  As regards inclined ferries, these are first of all very complex to produce so as to keep the wagon always horizontal and this all the more so as the number of wheels is large since it is necessary to provide inclined rails

offset from one axle to another.

  These ferries also have a big drawback which is that they create pits full of water inside the factory which poses safety and traffic problems.In addition, the dust present in the factory. can fall

  in water which becomes muddy very quickly.

  They also do not make it possible to serve in a simple way the tracks located on either side of the

oven.

  The present invention aims to propose a new simple device capable of ensuring the passage of a wagon between two upper and lower levels while

  now this one always perfectly horizontal.

  To this end, the device for ensuring the passage of a load which must remain horizontal, such as a wagon transporting products requiring cooking, between an upper level and a lower level, according to the invention, is characterized in that that it comprises a carriage provided with sections of rails, similar to those on which the wagon travels when it is at one of the upper or lower levels, in order to carry said wagon, said carriage being moved, by any suitable motor means , both vertically and horizontally in a movement during which said rail sections remain horizontal, between the upper level and the lower level. According to a first embodiment of the invention, the carriage is of triangular section and is arranged in a pit also having a triangular section so that the wheels of the carriage, carried by its oblique lower side roll along an inclined ramp oblique, the upper part of the carriage remaining horizontal during the movement which brings the rail elements carried by the carriage from a higher position where they are in the extension of the rails outside the oven carrying the wagons, to a lower position where they are in the extension of the interior rails placed in the oven

and submerged.

  According to a second embodiment, the carriage is provided with wheels situated on the same horizontal plane, the transition pit comprising as many inclined planes as there are sets of wheels, these inclined planes being parallel to one another so as to what the carriage moves while remaining parallel

to himself.

  According to a third embodiment, the carriage no longer has wheels but is carried by a set of parallel connecting rods forming a

deformable parallelogram.

  By way of nonlimiting examples and to facilitate understanding of the invention, there is shown in the accompanying drawings: FIG. 1, a schematic view illustrating the general circulation in a resin for manufacturing tiles, bricks or the like; Figures 2 and 3, two schematic views illustrating a first embodiment of the invention; Figures 4 and 5 two schematic views illustrating a second embodiment of the invention; Figure 6 a plan view of the carriage of Figures 4 and 5; Figure 7, a view illustrating the diagram of

  principle of a third embodiment.

  Figure 1 shows the general layout of a factory for the production of terracotta products

  such as brick tiles or the like.

  These products are made in raw earth in 31; then loaded in 32 onto wagons 4 A wagon 4 can have an area of the order of 40 m-; and weigh 80 tons

in charge.

  The factory 3 includes an oven 1 which can be of two kinds The oven 1 can be a drying and cooking oven, in which case the products loaded with 32 do not

  are not dried before being loaded onto the cars.

  The oven 1 can also be an oven in which only cooking is carried out, the drying of the products then being carried out in the manufacturing unit 31 before the

loading in 32.

  At the time of loading, the wagon 4 runs on a track 33 generally parallel to the furnace 1 It is then taken over by a ferry 34 which transports it transversely, to one of the auxiliary tracks 35 intended for storage or up to on track 36 of oven 1 When it arrives in the axis of track 36, the ferry stops and the wagon is moved on the rails 30 of this track Wagon 4 is then

  driven in the oven 1 on the rails 10 thereof.

  These rails 10 are immersed in a pit filled with a liquid which can for example be water and are at a

  level lower than that of the factory rails 30.

  At its exit from the oven, the wagon 4 is supported by a second transporter 37 which brings it either in the axis of an auxiliary track 35 or in the axis of the track 33 When the wagon is back on the track 33, it is unloaded in 38 cooked products which are transported to the shipping area 39 then brought back empty

to loading area 32.

  Alternatively, zones 32 and 38 may

to be merged into one.

  The auxiliary tracks 35 make it possible to remove a defective wagon but also to store throughout the week wagons of raw products which will be cooked during the weekend because it is absolutely

  stopping a cooking oven is out of the question.

  Figures 2 and 3 show a first embodiment of the invention There is shown schematically a ferry 34 which carries track elements 30 a on which are the wheels 4 a of a wagon 4 This ferry is shown in the position where it is located opposite an introductory airlock 2 placed at one end of a tunnel oven 1 This tunnel oven 1 comprises a pit F filled with water or other suitable liquid Up to the level E. In this longitudinal pit F are immersed rails 10 on which the wheels 4 will roll wagons 4, these wagons being provided with skirts, not shown which plunge into the liquid, below the level E. The pit F is extended at its two ends by a pit F ', the bottom of which is constituted by an inclined plane 85 and which has a vertical wall 85 a at its lowest end and an inclined flange 85 b to

its highest end.

  In this pit F 'rolls a carriage 8, provided with wheels 84 This carriage has a chassis whose cross section is triangular, that is to say that it comprises a horizontal upper part 81, carrying sections of rails 80 intended to receive the wheels 4 a of a wagon 4 and an oblique lower part 82, parallel to the bottom 85 of the pit F 'This lower, oblique part 82 carries the wheels 84 of the carriage 8. By any mechanical means not shown, such that a hoist, a jack, a rack or the like, the carriage 8 is moved from the high position, shown in Figure 2 to the low position shown in Figure 3. When it is in the high position (Figure 2) , the rail sections 80 are at the same height as the rail sections 30 a of the ferry 34 and in their extension When it is in the low position (FIG. 3), the rail sections 80 are at the same height as

  the rails 10 of the tunnel 1 and in their extension.

  It is thus seen that with a small displacement it ensures, by movement both vertical and horizontal, that is to say oblique, a transfer of the wagon 4 from one level to the other The pit F 'is relatively small dimensions since it is about 25% larger than a wagon 4 and moreover it is almost entirely covered by the airlock 2; so she

  is very protected from dust.

  Figures 4 and 5 show a second embodiment of the invention We see a portion of the ferry 34 carrying the rails 30 a for carrying the wagon 4, which in this figure is not shown as in the case of the figures 1 to 3, the oven 1 is a tunnel oven in which the wagons 4 run, loaded with stacks 41 of products to be cooked, on rails 10 immersed in a pit F filled with water or other suitable liquid. We see at E the level liquid in the pit F In a known manner and not shown, the wagons 4 are completely surrounded by a skirt

  soaking in the liquid at its lower periphery.

  At the entrance to the oven 1 is an airlock 2 of which the door locations are seen at 21 and 23 This airlock makes it possible not to put the oven in direct communication with the factory in order to allow the maintenance of the pressure regime or oven depression during

  the entry of a wagon 4 into it.

  As in the previous case, the transfer of a

  level to the other is achieved by means of a carriage 5.

  In the position shown in Figure 4, the carriage 5 is in its upper position for which the rails 50 which it carries are at the level of the rails 30 of the factory 3 and located in the extension thereof so that a wagon 4 can pass smoothly from the rails 30 to the rails 50 of the carriage 5. The carriage 5 is formed, in the example shown, in Figures 4 to 6, of three beams 51

each supporting a rail 50.

  The beams 51 are interconnected by transverse beams 52 in order to form a frame whose solidity is further improved by beams 53

  positioned to triangulate the whole.

  The carriage is provided with wheels 54 intended to allow its movement, these wheels being arranged

in the same horizontal plane.

  The numbers of wheels 54 and rails 50 of the carriage may be equal to the numbers of wheels and rails provided for the wagon although this is not essential. Said wheels 54 move on raceways making it possible to bring the carriage 5 from the position shown in FIG. 4 to that shown

in Figure 5.

  The raceways are formed of inclined planes 55 located in planes parallel to each other connecting at their upper and lower ends to horizontal planes 56, 57 respectively. It is possible to provide a plane inclined by axle or a plane inclined by wheel of the cart Anyway, it will be necessary to carry out as much

  of parallel planes that there are axles.

  These raceways make it possible to move the carriage 5 both in horizontal translation and in

  vertical translation, simultaneously or not.

  The carriage 5 thus passes, while remaining horizontal from its high position for which the wheels are on the horizontal planes 56 to its low position shown in FIG. 5) for which the wheels 54

are on the horizontal planes 57.

  In the low position, the rails 50 are in line with the rails 10 of the oven 1 so that the wagon 4 can move from the carriage 5 towards the

oven 1.

  The carriage 5 passes from one of its positions to the other by the action of at least one actuator 6. The actuator 6 is hooked at a fixed point 60 on the bottom of the airlock 2 at one of its ends and at a fixed point of the carriage 5 in the median plane thereof

at the other end.

  When, as shown, the carriage 5 carries three rails 50, it will be preferable to use two jacks 61, 62 whose attachment points are located symmetrically with respect to the occupied median plane

by beam 51.

  Such a device is of very compact design which makes it easier to carry out a

  structure capable of supporting very heavy loads.

  In addition, the use of the jack 6 ensures that the movement will be done at low speed and smoothly so as not to risk overturning the stacks 41 of products, this even with very inclined raceways in order to reduce the length of

horizontal displacement.

  In the example shown, the rails 30 of the factory are in the extension of the rails 10 of the furnace 1 while being at a higher level, this is why the carriage 5 moves horizontally in a

  direction parallel to rails 30, 10, 50.

  It would not go beyond the scope of the invention to provide a carriage, the wheels 54 of which move on raceways in a direction perpendicular or even oblique to that of the rails 30, 10, 50. Such arrangements would only require the provision of the airlock 2

  slightly larger transversely.

  The implementation of horizontal planes 56 and 57 at the ends of the tracks makes it possible to obtain stable positions of the carriage 5 without having to activate the control means, which ensures a

good device security.

  An identical device is implemented in

the oven exit airlock.

  According to a third embodiment of the device (Figure 7> the carriage 7, which in the manner of the carriage 5 is formed by beams carrying track elements 70, is articulated on the ground of each pit F by connecting rods 71 L ' assembly of the carriage 7 and connecting rods 71 form, seen in profile, a deformable parallelogram which passes from the high position shown in solid lines to the low position, shown in dotted lines.

Claims (7)

Claims   1 transfer device for wagons (4) loaded with products to be cooked in a tunnel oven intended to allow said carriages to pass from a higher level outside the oven, to a lower level inside the oven, characterized in that '' it consists of a carriage (5, 7, 8) provided at its upper horizontal part with rail sections (50, 70,) receiving a wagon <4), said carriage (5, 7, 8) being coupled to motor means moving it both vertically and horizontally between the level upper and lower level.   2 Device according to claim 1, wherein the carriage is constituted by a chassis of triangular cross section so as to comprise a horizontal upper part (81> carrying the rail sections (80) and an oblique lower part (82) carrying wheels (84), said carriage being disposed in a pit (F ') having an oblique bottom (85) on which the wheels (84) of said carriage (80) roll so that the latter is moved by any suitable motor means between a position in which it is at the top of the ramp formed by said oblique bottom and a position in which it is at the bottom of said ramp.   3 Device according to claim 2, wherein said pit is filled with water or any other suitable liquid and communicates with the pit (F) of the tunnel oven (1).   4 Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the carriage (5) comprises wheels (54) arranged in the same horizontal plane, these wheels moving along inclined planes (55) parallel to each other; so that the carriage   moves parallel to itself.   5 Device according to claim 4, characterized in that the inclined planes open at their upper and lower ends   on horizontal rolling zones (56, 57).   6 Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the carriage (7) is articulated to a set of parallel rods and of the same length (71) so as to form a deformable parallelogram. 7 Device according to any one of   claims 1 to 6, wherein the drive means   causing the movement of the carriage (5, 7, 8) is a hoist, a jack, a rack device or similar.