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US 5,956,842 AGranted
Butt and thimble press
AssigneeComalco Aluminium Limited
InventorKarl Stewart
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
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AssigneeComalco Aluminium Limited
InventorKarl Stewart
Estimating the term…
An apparatus for breaking the anode butt (15) and stripping the thimbles (13) from the yoke stubs (12) of an anode. The apparatus includes a support frame (20), a fixed plate assembly (21) secured to the supporting frame (20) and a ram assembly (22) extendible towards the fixed plate assembly (21). The fixed plate assembly (21) comprises a substantially rigid fixed plate (23) having recesses (24a) to receive the yoke (11) and yoke stubs (12). The recesses (24a) are shaped such that the thimbles (13) on the yoke stubs (12) of the anode butt (15) abut against the fixed plate assembly (21) during the extension of the ram assembly (22) to contact and break the anode butt. The fixed plate assembly (21) may be provided with a stub locating mechanism which locates the stubs in position and abuts against the thimbles (13) on the stubs (12) during the extension of the ram assembly (22). The stub locating mechanism also abuts against and is supported by the substantially rigid fixed plate (23).
An apparatus for breaking the anode butt and stripping the thimbles from the stubs of an anode, the stubs being connected to an anode rod by a yoke, including a support frame, a fixed plate assembly substantially secured to said support frame and a ram assembly extendible towards said fixed plate assembly for contacting and breaking the anode butt and stripping the thimbles, said fixed plate assembly comprising a substantially rigid fixed plate having recess to receive the anode stubs and yoke of said anode, the thimbles on the stubs of the anode abutting against said fixed plate assembly during the extension of said ram assembly to contact and break the anode butt.
An apparatus for removing the anode butt and thimbles from the stubs of an anode including:
A method for the removal of an anode butt and thimbles from the stubs of an anode including the steps of positioning the anode butt between a fixed plate assembly and a ram assembly for contacting and breaking said anode butt, said fixed plate assembly having a substantially rigid fixed plate, aligning the anode stubs with recesses in the substantially rigid fixed plate, moving the anode butt towards the substantially rigid fixed plate to receive the anode stubs within the recesses in the rigid fixed plate and abutting the thimbles against the fixed plate assembly, extending the ram assembly towards the substantially rigid fixed plate to contact and break said anode butt against the fixed plate assembly and strip the thimbles from the anode stubs, retracting the ram assembly and withdrawing the stripped anode stubs from the fixed plate assembly.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.