GB513531A - Improvements in hydraulic couplings - Google Patents

Abstract

513,531. Hydraulic couplings. SINCLAIR, H. April 7, 1938, No. 10717. [Class 69 (ii)] In a hydraulic coupling of the kinetic type and of the kind having a vaned impeller element 10 juxtaposed to a vaned runner element 20 to form therewith an annular working circuit in which working liquid can circulate in the form of a vortex ring, a rotary casing 21 covering the back of at least one of said elements to enclose a working chamber, means including a reservoir 32, whereby the liquid content of said working chamber can be varied while the coupling is operating, and a communication between said reservoir chamber 32 and the working circuit through the space between said rotary casing 21 and the back of one of the vaned elements covered by said casing and thence through the gap 50 between the peripheries of said elements, centrifugal pumping means drivably connected to said impeller element 10 are so disposed in said space as to generate at said gap a pressure opposing the outflow of liquid from the working circuit through said gap and thus: to reduce back pressure in the neighbourhood of the radially inner portion of said centrifugal pumping means. The latter may comprise vanes 48 which are radial or have a radial component and which are fixed to the interior of the casing 21 or to the back of the vaned element 20 whichever is constrained to rotate with the moving part. As shown, the coupling operates with its axis vertical, the casing 21 being under the working chamber. Any liquid which leaks over a baffle ring 27 within an annular groove 26 is thrown off by annular projections 28 into an annular well 29 connected to the outside by drains 31. The reservoir 32 contains a liquid thrower ring 34 and a dished shield 35, and a scoop-tube 36 is mounted on a control shaft 38 actuated by a lever 39. Liquid from the scoop passes through an arcuate duct 40 to a cooler below the coupling and returns by axial filling ducts 45. The core guide rings 10a, 20a may be interrupted as described in Specification 484,092. Bores 46 formed in some of the runner vanes connect the core of the working circuit to the space between the casing 21 and the runner 20. When the coupling is operating, a limited quantity of heated liquid leaks from the working chamber through one or more restricted nozzles 49 so as to maintain the circulation. Specifications 328,028, [Class 69 (ii)], 378,726 and 493,703 also are referred to.