System for the positioning of coke oven machines

At a coke oven of a coking plant, each operating machine is provided with a U-shaped detector unit equipped with infrared light gates. Each operating station of the coke oven is provided with a signal plate carrying positioning marker elements for fine tuning the positioning of the operating machine at the operating station and with identification marker elements for identifying the respective operating stations. Each infrared light gate includes an infrared light source and an infrared light sensor connected to an electronic evaluation circuit comprising a memory with a reading monitor for detecting and correlating the coded identification markers on the signal plates. The electronic evaluation circuit also includes an electronic position evaluation subcircuit which controls the drive of the respective coke oven operating machine to move the same at a reduced speed if a first positioning pulse is transmitted and to stop the operating machine upon the occurrence of a pair of positioning pulses as well as an identification signal identifying a desired operating station.