36
MESSES. SCHNEIDER AND CO.’S WORKS.
upper or fixée! part or the top branch, and it is also free
to swing to the right or left. The chai'ges, prepared in
advance and carried up to the furnace in the trucks, are
taken by the carrier, and brought to the furnace by
means of the travelling crâne. The great facility with
which the device is manipulated, enables the charges to be
well distributed over the hearth of the furnace, and thus
rapid and uniform melting action is Sëèured. Pieces
The following are the dimensions of the 35-ton furnaces,
which are illustrated by Figs. 86 and 87 :
Length between upi’ights
Breadth ,, ,,
Inside length between firebridges
Inside breadth in the micldle ...
Surface of hearth per ton of
steel
10 600 in. 34 ft. 9 in
3.800 ni. 12 ft. 6 in
6.700 m. 22 ft. 0 in
3.100 ni. 10 ft. 2 in
0.70 sq . m. sq. ft.
Fig. 84. Main Casting Pit.
weighing as much as 8 tons can be charged without any
manual labour ; the operation of guiding the carrier is
performed by two men and a boy.
Travelling Crânes.-—The travelling crânes that serve
the Siemens-Martin furnaces, have a span of 13.7 metres
(44 ft. 11| in.), and traverse the whole width of the build-
ing. Besides being used for charging, they prove very
useful in repairing the furnaces when these have to be
taken to pièces, as, for instance, in lifting out the hearth.
There are three charging doors, .80 metre (31J in.)
wide, which can be opened out to 1.1 metre (43 in.) for
the larger pieces of a charge. The distance allowed
between the furnaces is 20 metres (65 ft.) from centre
to centre.
Regenerators.—The eapacity of the two air and gas
regenerators is 4.6 cubic metres (162.46 cubic feet) per ton
of steel, including only that part which contains the brick
filling ; or 6 cubic metres (211.90 cubic feet), if the total