Hydraulically powered rail pre-heater
AssigneeMatweld, Inc.
InventorsRalph F. Story, Johnny D. Burnett
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A hydraulically powered rail pre-heater for heating rail ends before they are welded together, which includes a blower driven by a hydraulic motor for producing a substantially constant flow of air, a source for propane gas or other combustible media to be regulated and mixed and then delivered to a torch for the application of a flame to the rail ends.
Claims10
In a rail pre-heater including a torch, and means for feeding an air/fuel mixture to the torch, the improvement being in said air/fuel mixture means which comprises:
- a blower for generating a substantially constant flow of air having an air intake and an air discharge, a hydraulic motor for driving said blower, means providing hydraulic fluid under pressure to said motor, a source of combustible media under pressure, means connected to said blower air discharge for mixing the air and combustible media to produce the air/fuel mixture, and means connecting the air/fuel mixture to the torch.
A hydraulically powered pre-heater for heating rail ends before they are welded together which comprises:
- a torch for directing a flame from a mixture of propane gas and air toward the rail ends, a source of propane gas, means for generating an air/gas mixture including a blower for producing a regulated substantially constant volume of air, a hydraulic motor for driving the blower, a mixer for receiving the gas from the source and the air from the blower and regulating and mixing the air and the gas, and means connecting the mixer to the torch for supplying the mixed gas and air to the torch.
A hydraulically powered pre-heater for heating rail ends before they are welded together which comprises:
- a torch for directing a flame from a mixture of fuel and air toward the rail ends, a blower for producing a substantially constant volume of air, a hydraulic motor for driving the blower, a source of fuel under pressure, regulating means for regulating the air produced by the blower, regulating means for controlling the rate of fuel flow, and mixing means for mixing the air and fuel to produce a fuel mixture, and line means connected to a torch and the mixing means for delivering the fuel mixture to the torch.
A method of preheating rail ends prior to welding the rail ends together comprising the steps of:
- generating a regulated air/fuel mixture including:
- providing a fuel under pressure,
- providing a blower for producing a substantially constant flow of air,
- driving the blower with a hydraulic motor,
- feeding the flow of air and fuel to a common chamber,
- controlling the fuel flow to the chamber,
- mixing the air and fuel in the chamber,
- delivering the air/fuel mixture to a torch disposed adjacent to the rail ends,
- and igniting the mixture to produce a flame for heating the rail ends.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.