Claims:I Claim:

1. A pilot car for debris cleaning from rail track/Alley below the operating steel making furnace/converter comprising,
a wheel mounted car body placed on rail track below the steel making furnace/ converter;
segmented Sweep blades movably attached to two ends of said car body with hinged connections to perform desired cleaning of debris including slag or metal that may be dropped on track or alley during deslagging/ladle teeming in steel making process;
drive motor with gear box to provide travel motion to the pilot car on rail track;
electro-mechanical actuation mechanism to lower or lift the end of swipe blade for desired cleaning of rail track or alley as per need;
power supply means from electrical power bus to provide controlled power input to drive motor or actuation mechanism to perform desired cleaning action from a distant place with remotely operable switches.

2. A pilot car for debris cleaning as claimed in claim 1 wherein said segmented sweep blades comprising three segments on each end of pilot car, one at the centre portion having the projection below the rail track for alley cleaning and other two segments on two sides of the central segment having the projection from the hinged end up to the rail track for track cleaning and all the three segments are connected with hinges through connecting rods/pins made of a toughened metallic materials.

3. A pilot car for debris cleaning as claimed in anyone of claims 1 or 2 wherein said each of the segments of sweep blades having curved projection at the lower end of the sweep blades with sharp edges and back support behind the lower end of the sweep blades and reinforcing collar at the end of the sweep blades to ensure effective debris cleaning from rail track or alley.

4. A pilot car for debris cleaning as claimed in anyone of claims 1 to 3 wherein Sweep blades are connected to the actuating mechanism with a shaft to operatively lower or lift the sweep blades for desired cleaning action.

5. A pilot car for debris cleaning as claimed in anyone of claims 1 to 4 wherein said pilot car comprises a drive for the sweep blades that is segmented and hinged to the middle portion of the pilot car, and which is connected to actuation mechanism by a connecting rod to a crank liver mechanism and this electro-mechanical/mechanism is connected with an electrically operated motor with a rack and pinion arrangement.

6. A pilot car for debris cleaning as claimed in anyone of claims 1 to 5 wherein the travel movement and sweep blade actuation mechanism of the Pilot Car can be controlled by controlling the power of the Power Bus which is operated from a remote place and therefore the operator of the car is not required to go below the furnace for operating it.

7. A pilot car for debris cleaning as claimed in anyone of claims 1 to 5 which is so configured that any spillages over the car is allowed to free flow.

8. A pilot car for debris cleaning as claimed in anyone of claims 1 to 5 wherein the sweep blades are curved in a way so as to move the debris/slag/metal away from the area below the converter, which can be used to clean the alley debris at any operating temperature and at any intensity of the load, that is spilled during the sequence of operations during the steel making process.

9. A pilot car for debris cleaning as claimed in anyone of claims 1 to 5 wherein said debris cleaning car is having a compact design so that it can be sandwiched between the tapping ladle car and the slag pot transfer car without any interruption/delay in the steel making process.

10. A method for debris cleaning from rail track/Alley below the operating steel making furnace/converter using the pilot car as claimed in claims 1 to 8 comprising

Initially after the deslaging is done the slag pot car is transferred to its designated area and the ladle car also transferred to steel caster along rail track;

placing the pilot car to its initial position of the zone just below the tapping zone below the furnace by operating power on for travel motor by appropriate switching operation from remote place;

lowering the sweep blade segments at both ends of pilot car as per the requirements of debris cleaning on rail track or alley and the car is moved to the other end;

remotely operating the actuating mechanism to move the sweep blades to displace the debris deposited on track or alley;

above steps are repeated several times for complete removal of the debris from the track and alley.

11. A method as claimed in claim 10 wherein movement of the Pilot Car can be controlled by controlling the power of the Power Bus from the Switches and controls provided at one of its end.

12. A method as claimed in anyone of claims 10 or 11 wherein the Alley Cleaner Sweep Blade is lowered below the track height to clean the area between the Rail Tracks and Rail Track Cleaner Sweep Blade is lowered only till the surface height of the Rail Tracks and is used to clean the debris above the tracks and also to the side of them.

13. A method as claimed in anyone of claims 10 to 12 wherein the Blades of the Pilot Car can be lowered on the side of the direction in which it has to be moved so that If it has to go on the left side of the furnace, the Blades on the left are lowered and the Blades on the right are lifted up and vice versa, such that when the Pilot Car moves to left, it pushes the debris to the left side, away from the furnace and when it moves right, it pushes the debris to the right side, away from the furnace, thus it cleans the alley and the area below the furnace in each run in whatever direction the Pilot Car goes.

14. A method as claimed in anyone of claims 10 to 13 wherein said pilot car pushes the spillage just far enough from the furnace zone so that any other equipment such as a Bobcat can then be employed to remove it away from there.

Dated this the 16th day of January, 2020
Anjan Sen
Of Anjan Sen & Associates
(Applicant’s Agent)
IN/PA-199

, Description:FIELED OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a device/equipment for cleaning the spillages of slag/metal which is spilled during the processing of hot metal into steel in a steel making furnace. More particularly, present invention provides a pilot car as a wheel mounted self-propelled remotely controllable equipment moving on rail track that is designed to clean the spillage deposited on rail track and alley at suitable intervals and even while the furnace is working, so that regular furnace operation and metal/slag handling activities are not affected/stopped.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

With an increasing demand of steel in a market due to continuous development of nations, the steel production is constantly increasing year after year.
It is every management’s responsibility to use the resources effectively and to reduce the average process time for steel manufacturing. The effectiveness of utilizing the available resources in an attempt to reduce the average process time should be selectively deployed so that production increases without any change in capacity and reduce cost of production.

In a steel making process there are various spillages during charging of the hot metal into the furnace. Some hot metal spills below the furnace, because of the difficulty faced by the operators while handling. This spillage varies according to different working and charging conditions. This charging spillages are very small in amount compared to other types such as spillages due to sloping, tapping, deslagging and other miscellaneous jam. Spillage due to slopping and deslagging amounts to around 80% of the spillage in the working of the steel making furnace.

Slopping occurs due to foaminess of the slag which flows out from the mouth of the furnace which has the rail track below it for transporting metal or slag. Further, there might not be perfect stream flow of slag during deslagging which results in spillages of the slag over the rail track. Other spillages occur when during tapping, the excess slag level in the bath flows over the mouth and the miscellaneous spillages like the layers of jam adhered to the outer shell of the furnace which spills over the rail track below the steel making furnace.

Most of the leading steel making units are equipped with a rail track, below the furnace which is meant to have transfer cars for tapping ladle and the slag pot. These transfer cars are meant for their particular work for handling and transferring the tapping ladle and slag pot. Any of the spilled jam over the rail track can obstruct the movement of the transfer car, which makes the process idle till that spilled jam is cleaned.

If the spilled jam sticks over the rail track there are chances of derailment of the rail car which in turn has adverse effect on the production. So in that case, the production of the furnace will also be non-working because tapping ladle can only be transferred with the help of rail car. Hence cleaning of the rail track should be done frequently to avoid any such associated problems due to jams on track.

In the conventional process these spillage are cleaned with the help of the earth movers like wheel loader, Dozer which is operated manually by its operators. Hence it requires human involvement in the cleaning process. Thus sufficient precaution and care should be taken when working below the steel making furnace. No human activities should be carried out below it for safety reason while processing of steel is going on in the furnace. All the process work has to be stopped before the cleaning work is to be started.

Conventional cleaning process involves the cleaning of the spillages below the furnace with the earth moving equipment which is operated by the operators which puts the furnace to idle condition because of the human activities being done below the furnace.

Various external agencies are employed for cleaning these spillages. They use heavy earth moving equipment for cleaning these spillages, which takes some precious time by keeping the furnace idle until the spillage is cleared. This means no production can continue during cleaning. Hence decrease in the average processing time that leads to loss of production.

Thus there has always been a need for an equipment or a device which would be equipped to facilitate the cleaning of the spilled jams in a steel making industry and to solve the problems associated with the conventional debris cleaning (spilled jam) process. In other words the basic need was to develop equipment or device and method which would efficiently clean the debris deposited on the rail track to push/clean the rail track debris remotely without involving any human activity below the steel making furnace. By eliminating the excess time required for cleaning, without affecting furnace operation and hence increasing the production rate with enhanced process time.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

The basic object of the present invention is directed to provide a pilot car for cleaning deposited debris on rail track below the steel making furnace avoiding human intervention and without stopping the furnace operation.

A further object of the present invention is to provide said pilot car for removing slag or metal deposited on rail track and also alley between rail tract at regular frequency so that normal production and slag/metal handling operations are not adversely affected in any manner.

A still further object of the present invention is directed to provide said pilot car with cleaning means installed thereon that can be operated remotely so that manual operation for cleaning work is eliminated and no earth moving equipment would be required, thus reducing the operational costs an ensuring safe working conditions.

A still further object of the present invention is directed to provide said pilot car with cleaning means comprising Sweep blades hinged at both the ends of the pilot car involving an actuating mechanism which cleans the rail track and the alley as the car is made to run over the track by supplying power from electrical power supply bus by an operator from a distant place/pulpit.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The basic aspect of the present invention is directed to a pilot car for debris cleaning from rail track/Alley below the operating steel making furnace/converter comprising,
a wheel mounted car body placed on rail track below the steel making furnace/ converter;
segmented Sweep blades movably attached to two ends of said car body with hinged connections to perform desired cleaning of debris including slag or metal that may be dropped on track or alley during deslagging/ladle teeming in steel making process;
drive motor with gear box to provide travel motion to the pilot car on rail track;
electro-mechanical actuation mechanism to lower or lift the end of swipe blade for desired cleaning of rail track or alley as per need;
power supply means from electrical power bus to provide controlled power input to drive motor or actuation mechanism to perform desired cleaning action from a distant place with remotely operable switches.

A further aspect of the present invention is directed to said pilot car for debris cleaning wherein said segmented sweep blades comprising three segments on each end of pilot car, one at the centre portion having the projection below the rail track for alley cleaning and other two segments on two sides of the central segment having the projection from the hinged end up to the rail track for track cleaning and all the three segments are connected with hinges through connecting rods/pins made of a toughened metallic materials.

A still further aspect of the present invention is directed to said pilot car for debris cleaning wherein said each of the segments of sweep blades having curved projection at the lower end of the sweep blades with sharp edges and back support behind the lower end of the sweep blades and reinforcing collar at the end of the sweep blades to ensure effective debris cleaning from rail track or alley.

A still further aspect of the present invention is directed to said pilot car for debris cleaning wherein Sweep blades are connected to the actuating mechanism with a shaft to operatively lower or lift the sweep blades for desired cleaning action.

A still further aspect of the present invention is directed to said pilot car for debris cleaning wherein said pilot car comprises a drive for the sweep blades that is segmented and hinged to the middle portion of the pilot car, and which is connected to actuation mechanism by a connecting rod to a crank liver mechanism and this electro-mechanical/mechanism is connected with an electrically operated motor with a rack and pinion arrangement.

Another aspect of the present invention is directed to said pilot car for debris cleaning wherein the travel movement and sweep blade actuation mechanism of the Pilot Car can be controlled by controlling the power of the Power Bus which is operated from a remote place and therefore the operator of the car is not required to go below the furnace for operating it.

Importantly, said pilot car for debris cleaning is so configured that any spillages over the car is allowed to free flow.

Yet another aspect of the present invention is directed to said pilot car for debris cleaning wherein the sweep blades are curved in a way so as to move the debris/slag/metal away from the area below the converter, which can be used to clean the alley debris at any operating temperature and at any intensity of the load, that is spilled during the sequence of operations during the steel making process.

A further aspect of the present invention is directed to said pilot car for debris cleaning wherein said debris cleaning car is having a compact design so that it can be sandwiched between the tapping ladle car and the slag pot transfer car without any interruption/delay in the steel making process.

A still further aspect of the present invention is directed to a method for debris cleaning from rail track/Alley below the operating steel making furnace/converter using the pilot car as described above comprising

Initially after the deslaging is done the slag pot car is transferred to its designated area and the ladle car also transferred to steel caster along rail track;

placing the pilot car to its initial position of the zone just below the tapping zone below the furnace by operating power on for travel motor by appropriate switching operation from remote place;

lowering the sweep blade segments at both ends of pilot car as per the requirements of debris cleaning on rail track or alley and the car is moved to the other end;

remotely operating the actuating mechanism to move the sweep blades to displace the debris deposited on track or alley;

above steps are repeated several times for complete removal of the debris from the track and alley.

A still further aspect of the present invention is directed to said method wherein movement of the Pilot Car can be controlled by controlling the power of the Power Bus from the Switches and controls provided at one of its end.

A still further aspect of the present invention is directed to said method wherein the Alley Cleaner Sweep Blade is lowered below the track height to clean the area between the Rail Tracks and Rail Track Cleaner Sweep Blade is lowered only till the surface height of the Rail Tracks and is used to clean the debris above the tracks and also to the side of them.

A still further aspect of the present invention is directed to said method wherein the Blades of the Pilot Car can be lowered on the side of the direction in which it has to be moved so that If it has to go on the left side of the furnace, the Blades on the left are lowered and the Blades on the right are lifted up and vice versa, such that when the Pilot Car moves to left, it pushes the debris to the left side, away from the furnace and when it moves right, it pushes the debris to the right side, away from the furnace, thus it cleans the alley and the area below the furnace in each run in whatever direction the Pilot Car goes.

A still further aspect of the present invention is directed to said method wherein said pilot car pushes the spillage just far enough from the furnace zone so that any other equipment such as a Bobcat can then be employed to remove it away from there.

The above and other objects and advantages of the present invention are described hereunder in greater details with reference to the following accompanying non limiting illustrative drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

Figure 1: illustrates schematically the pilot car device of the present invention with sweep blades which is having curvature at its lower projection and with a connecting shaft connected to the actuating mechanism.

Figure 2: shows a schematic diagram of the Pilot Car placed on the track and connected to an Electrical Power Bus, positioned between SPTC(Slag Pot Transfer Car) and TLTC (Teeming Ladle Transfer Car).

Figure 3: shows the schematic front view of pilot car with hinged connection of sweep blades for track cleaning and alley cleaning.

Figure 4: shows the schematic side view of pilot car with hinged connection of sweep blades having curvature at its lower projection of shorter length for track cleaning on two sides and of longer length for alley cleaning at the middle position.

Figure 5: shows the schematic isometric view of pilot car with hinged connection of sweep blades for track and alley cleaning.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION WITH REFERENCE TO THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

The present invention is directed to provide an equipment or a device more particularly, a self-propelled remotely operable pilot car which is wheel mounted to move on rail track and is equipped to facilitate the cleaning of the spilled jams in a steel making industry and solve the problems associated with the conventional debris cleaning (spilled jam) process, while the furnace operation is not interrupted during cleaning.

Accompanying Figure 1 illustrates schematically the pilot car device of the present invention with sweep blades which is having curvature at its lower projection and with a connecting shaft connected to the actuating mechanism.

The basic concept of the present invention, is to provide an equipment for cleaning the debris of the alley(area below steel making furnace), which is a pilot car mounted on wheels(3) having sweep blades(2) attached to car body(1) with hinge (4) and an actuating mechanism(4a) for the sweep blade. The sweep blades may be controlled either electrically or mechanically or pneumatically for actuation of the blade. Alley debris cleaning car is a type of electrically operated motorized car which travels on a rail track(6). Designed as per the requirement, it consists of the electrically controlled motor with a gear drive assembly coupled with the wheel(3) of the car and the sweep blades(2) are hinged(3) to the car on both the ends for cleaning.

This hinged sweep blades(2) are having the dimensions depending up on the parallel distance of the rail track(3). The sweep blade are segmented in to three parts, one at the center portion(2b) has the projection below the rail track and other two segments(2a) has the projection from the hinged end up to the rail track(3) and all the three segments are connected with hinges through a connecting rods/pins designed with a toughened metallic materials and these sweep blades have the curvature at its bottom portion to provide the free flow of the debris from the alley and this sweep blades are so designed to easily dispose the debris from the alley. Accompanying Figure 3 shows the disposition of sweep blade segments(2a,2b) attached with hinge at the two ends of the pilot car. Accompanying Figures 4 and 5 illustrates the details of sweep blades at two sides for rail track cleaning(2a) and sweep blade at centre for Alley cleaning(2b), both having curved bottom portion profiled for effective debris removal.

Sweep blades are hinged at both the ends of the pilot car. These sweep blades have a curved projection at the lower end. There is a mechanical actuation mechanism to lift/lower the sweep blade. There are two different types of sweep blades. One type is for cleaning rail track and another for cleaning the central portion (alley). The sweep blades are connected with the help of connecting rod. They are connected to the actuating mechanism using a shaft. Sweep blades are provided with a sharp edge at the lower end. The Blades are curved in a way so as to move the debris/slag/metal away from the area below the converter. There are Back Support behind the lower end of the sweep blades. Also there are Reinforcing collar at the end of the sweep blades for desired cleaning action.

The Alley Cleaner Sweep Blade(2b) shown above cleans the area between the Rail Tracks and can be lowered below the track height also for cleaning. The Rail Track Cleaner Sweep Blade(2a) can be lowered only till the surface height of the Rail Tracks and is used to clean the debris above the tracks and also to the side of them. The Sweep Blades are joined to the Pilot Car at points called Hinges. The Wheel of the Pilot Car runs on the Rail Tracks.

The centre segment(2b) and side segment(2a) of the sweep blades are connected to the actuating mechanism to lower and to lift the sweep blade by a actuating rod.

The actuating mechanism(4a) depends upon the required load depending upon the debris quantity or the frequency of the spillages. The sweep blade(2) can be used to clean the alley debris at any operating temperature and at any intensity of the load.

The pilot car used as debris cleaning car is having a compact design so that it can be sandwiched between the tapping/teeming ladle transfer car and the slag pot transfer car without any interruption in the process. Thus the pilot car for handling and cleaning the alley debris can be operated even during the steel making process is continued.

The pilot car is operated from a remote place and therefore the operator of the car is not required to go below the furnace for operating it.

The pilot car only pushes the spilled slag/metal away from the place where it is spilled below the converter. It pushes the spillage just far enough from the furnace so that any other equipment such as a Bobcat can then be employed to remove it away from there.

The slag that spills from the furnace is in red hot/liquid conditions which makes it extremely difficult for any person to work there. The pilot car helps here by doing itself the job instead of any person running some earthmover below the furnace.

The pilot car is smaller in length when compared to SPTC (Slag Pot Transfer Car) or TLTC (Teeming Ladle Transfer Car). The Blades of the Pilot Car can be lowered on the side of the direction in which it has to be moved. If it has to go on the left side of the furnace, the Blades on the left are lowered and the Blades on the right are lifted up and vice versa. So, when the Pilot Car moves left, it pushes the debris to the left side, away from the furnace and when it moves right, it pushes the debris to the right side, away from the furnace. Therefore, in whatever direction the Pilot Car goes, it cleans the alley and the area below the furnace in each run.

Accompanying Figure 2 is a diagram of the Pilot Car placed on the track and connected to an Electrical Power Bus. The Power on the Power Bus(5) can be controlled from the Switches and controls provided at one of its end to supply drive power to the pilot car through current pick up mast(7). Thus, the travel movement and sweep blade actuation mechanism of the Pilot Car can be controlled by controlling the power of the Power Bus.
According to a further aspect of the present device for spilled debris cleaning, the said pilot car consists of a drive for the sweep blades. This is segmented and hinged to the middle portion of the pilot car, which is connected to actuation mechanism by a connecting rod to a crank liver mechanism and this electro mechanical/mechanism is connected with an electrically operated motor with a rack and pinion arrangement.

The said sweep blades having the sharp edge at end portion with curved end projection to facilitate the free flow of the jam for cleaning purpose. Further the sweep blades are designed to even handle the hot and cold alley debris.

In according with another aspect of the present invention there is provided a process for cleaning the alley debris which was spilled during the process of sequence of operations during the steel making process by using the pilot car operated remotely while travelling on track.

In the process according to the present invention, the alley debris can be cleaned with the present invented device during any course of operations in the sequences of operations of steel making processes without any delay in the process. Usually the alley debris cleaning can be done after the end of the steel making process of the furnace operation.

According to a further aspect of the present process, the said sweep blade helps to clean the alley debris. Initially after the deslagging is done, the slag pot car is transferred to its designated area and the ladle car is also transferred and then the pilot car is taken to its initial position of the zone just below the tapping zone. The sweep blade is lowered as per the requirements and the car is moved to the other end by remotely operated switches. The car is transferred at a controlled rate so as to have a completed cleared zone.

The car is operated till the zone is made safe working zone for human activities to carry out cleaning of the accumulated debris moved aside the track by the car safely from there for their disposal to clear off the zone. The above process is repeated several times for complete removal of the alley debris from the alley. With this process there will be no interruption in the operation and the rail track life also increases due to frequent cleaning and less exposure to the hot slag/metallic debris. The pilot car according to present invention is thus a debris cleaning device that ensures reduced processing time with higher productivity and safe and hazard free working practice in regular production activity in steel manufacturing industry.