US1031458A - Valve mechanism for draft-regulators. - Google Patents

Description

J.- MILTON.

VALVE mncmmsm r012 1mm REGULATORS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 30, 1910.

1 ,O31,458, Patented July 2, 1912.

s sums-sum 2.

h a waaa jm 5:15 a: aa I M' IIIIIyIIIIIIIIIII I JM/z amzm COLUMBIA PLANOOIA?" 0', WASHINGTON. D. C

J. MILTON.

VALVE MECHANISM FOR DRAFT REGULATORS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 30, I910.

Patented July 2, 1912.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

J'OI-IN MILTON, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF 'IO EMIL L. SCHARF, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, AND ONE-HALF TO GEORGE F. EAMICI-I, OF LOVETTSVILLE, VIRGINIA.

VALVE MECHANISM FOR DRAFT-REGULATORS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 2, 1912.

Application filed July 30, 1910. Serial No. 574,687.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN MILTON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Washington, in the District of Columbia, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Valve Mechanism for Draft-Regulators, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved construction of draft regulator which forms the subject matter of Patents #590,846, September 28, 1897, #631,528, August 22, 1899, #661,066, November 6, 1900 and #776,608, December 6, 1904, granted to me for draft regulators, particularly adapted for use in connection with locomotives. In all of these draft regulating devices an air trap is arranged at the forward end of the locomotive for taking air into the smoke box of said locomotive, whenever the fire box doors are opened and also during excessive exhausts: the sole purpose of said air trap being the introduction of air into the smoke box for thepurpose of preventing the disastrous effects or consequences, recited in detail in the patents hereinbefore referred to. In the first two patents before mentioned a purely mechanical connection ishad in each instance between the fire box door and the air trap for the purpose of operating the valve of said air trap in unison with said fire box door, while in the other patents referred to, pneumatically operated means are employed to control the valve of the air trap.

Another object of the invention is to provide for the regulation of tension or pressure upon the air inlet valve whereby the rate of movement of said valve can be regulated.

This present invention as before stated, relates to this class of draft regulators and 1 more particularly to an improved construction of pneumatic valve mechanism for controlling the a1r trap valve in connection with the fire box door, and th1s 1nvent1on has for its object to provide a valve mechanism which will absolutely prevent the leakvide a valve mechanism in which all dirt, grit, and other foreign matter will be arrested at the receiving point and prevented from coming in contact with the Working parts of the mechanism, whereby a much more effective and durable device is provided.

Another object of the invention is to provide a valve mechanism having an inlet and an exhaust valve, both of which can be closed simultaneously but only one at a time opened thereby preventing a waste of air and also insuring the proper action of all of the parts operatively connected with said valve mechanism.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a valve mechanism in which the tenccllency to gum or stick is entirely obviate Another object of the invention is to provide an adjustable compensating thrust or connecting rod whereby the operation of the valves can be efiected by means of a crank on top of the fire door pintle and a still further object is to provide for the quick and easy cleaning of the entire mechanism of all foreign matter which may accumulate therein.

With these various objects in view, I have after numerous tests and experiments provided a valve mechanism which thoroughly carries out all of the objects referred to and consists essentially of a casing having a chamber provided with inlet and exhaust ports, said inlet and exhaust ports being controlled by means of valves which have a common operating means, which operating means is operatively connected with the fire boiler head over the fire box doors and showing the connection-between the pintles of said doors and the valve mechanism: Flg. 2

.is a top view of the same, certain partsbeing broken away to more clearly illustrate certain features: Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the valve mechanism: Fig. 4: is a sectional view of the connecting or thrust rod, a-nd, Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the piston forvoperating the valve or door of the-air trap. Fig. 6 is'a side elevation of a locomotive, showing the application of my invention. Fig. 7 isa front elevation of'the same. Fig. 8 :is a rear elevation.

In'carrying 'outm invention, .I employ a valve casing A, whic is supported upon the head --or face of the boiler in any suitable manner, said valve casing being arranged above the fire-box doors, and with reference to its operating connection. Leading into this valve casing A is the air inlet pipe A which carries the air under pressure from any suitable source into the casing, and a second pipe A is also connected to this casing and through which air is carried to the forward 'end of-the locomotive for-the purpose of operating "the piston hereinafter described, which piston operates the valve or door in the air trap at the forward end of but also a spring actuated compensating the locomotive.

Themain object'of my inventionis to providefor'theinflux of air into'the smoke box whenever the fire box doors are opened and inasmuch as the valve mechanism which forms the subject matter of this application is for the purpose of controlling the air under pressure for actuating said valve at the forward end it is. obvious that there must be a connection between the fire box doors and the valve mechanism and this I accomplish by providing pintles B which arekeyed or otherwise fixed to the fire box door hinges, each pintle being in turn provided with a disk '13 at its upper end and each disk is provided with a crankpin B and it will be noted that where there are two'fire doors one-crankpin B is arranged upon one side of'thelongitudinal line connecting the disks, while the other crank pin occupies a position upon the opposite side of said line.

produced adjacent its ends and in which the crank pins 13 work and it is obvious that from therelative arrangement of the slots, pins and disks carried by the pintles that as the said pintles are rotated in one direction, the bar will be caused to shift in one directo the valve operating lever.

Connecting these disks B is a' horizontal shiftablebar B having slots "13* tion and upon the return nwvement of the pintles, said bar will shift in the reverse direction as most clearly indicated .on the drawing by means of arrows. here there is but one fire door, there is a direct connection through the connecting rod between the .municate to the operating lever of the valve :mechanismhereinafter referred to,-by means of a connectlng rod C, whlch is attached .to

the shiftable bar 13 at one end while at the opposite end the connecting rod is attached This connect- .ing rod C is'inthe nature of a compensating arod as the movement of the valve operating lever is not coextensive with the movement 'of't'he shiftable bar B and in order to com- :pensate for this difference in movement, I preferably .make the'connecting rod C in two sections C and C which sections enter a sleeve C and the section'C is provided with a head C against which bears a spring C andbetween this head and the opposite end of the sleeve is another'springC, the purpose of said springs being to normally hold the sections of'the rod extended to their proper positions. The section C of the rod is threaded into'the end of the sleeve so that afine adjustment can be'had for the said 'rod in connecting the same with the valve operating lever. It will thus be seen that I provide not only an adjustable rod with two horizontal bores or passages F and G, respectively and this valve casing also has a vertical lever passage 11, all of said passages, chambers or boresbeing arranged inthe same vertical plane. The chamber D is bored from the bottom upwardly and extends nearly "through the casing and the chamber E is bored entirely through the casing as most'clearlyshown and these chambers D and'E are closed at their lower ends by means ofyscrew plugs D and E respec-' tively. The .air inlet pipe A enters the chamber D aboutmidway its height and the air delivery pipe A extends from the chamber E at its upper end and between the chambers D and E is a port I, controlled by means of a lever K, the head of which is ground to fit accurately the seat of the port I and it will be noted that this port I is out of horizontal alinement with the air inlet pipe and is preferably arranged above said inlet pipe although it could be arranged below if'so desired.

The chamber D I prefer to designate as the receiving chamber and the chamber E the distributing chamber and inasmuch as the port connecting these chambers is out of horizontal alinement with the inlet pipe, it is obvious that any dust, or dirt or other foreign matter carried into the receiving chamber would be caught or intercepted and will collect in the bottom thereof and will not pass out through the port I. The accumulated dust or dirt can be quickly and easily removed whenever desired by opening the plug D at the bottom of the chamber D. A port L is arranged adjacent the upper end of the chamber E and communicates with the bore or passage G in which is located the exhaust valve M, the end of which is ground to accurately fit the seat of the port L and it will also be noted that the end of the valve is reduced in order to permit the exhaust valve to pass freely to the outlet opening L produced in the side of the casing and communicating with the exhaust port L or rather communicating with the passage G adjacent the said port L. The inlet valve K and the exhaust valve M move horizontally back and forth and the inlet valve K is normally held closed by means of a spring K exerting the pressure upon the rear end thereof, the tension of said spring being regulated by means of a screw plug K screwed in the endof the valve casing and bearing upon the coil spring K which in turn, as before stated, exerts its pressure upon the rear end of the inlet valve K for the purpose of maintaining it in its closed posit-ion. The inlet and exhaust valves are both operated by means of a single lever N, said lever beingbifurcated at its upper end and pivotally connected with the exhaust valve as shown and intermediate its end this lever is pivotally connected with the inlet valve K, the lever being slotted or bifurcated and the valves are reduced as shown for the purpose of making the ends connect. The lower end of this lever N is connected to the section C of the connecting rod C so that as the fire box doors are swung open the bar 13 is shifted and this in turn communicates motion to the connecting rod which exerts either a push or pull upon the lever N according to the position of the valve. The inlet valve is normally closed and the initial movement of the operating lever N serves to close the exhaust valve, said lever turning upon a pivot N as a fulcrum and then the continued movement of the lever N shifts the fulcrum from the pivot N to the pivot N and the fulcrum being shifted and the exhaust valve closed the inlet valve is forced back or opened and the air will immediately enter the receiving chamber. pass through the inlet port into the distributing chamber and out through the outlet pipe A to the valve controlling piston mechanism at the forward end of the locomotive. All of these operations occur simultaneously with the opening of the fire box doors and are brought about by the operation of said doors. When the doors are closed the reverse movements take place so far as the actuating mechanisms are concerned and consequently the lever end returns to its normal position and the spring immediately causes the inlet valve to be seated and the exhaust valve opens the exhaust port and consequently the air passes out through the port L and outlet opening L into the air.

The hereafter described valve mechanism is the result of numerous experiments and tests already made wit-l1 the object of insuring simplicity of parts and efficiency of operation and it is obvious that the mechanism consists of very few parts all of which can be. quickly and easily assembled and it is also obvious that owing to the quick and positive manner of operating the inlet and exhaust valves there will be no leakage of air and it is also clear that all dust, dirt or other foreign matter which would ordinarily pass to the mechanismand tend to clog the same, are caught or entrapped in the receiving chamber.

After the air passes into the outlet pipe A it is carried forward to the forward end of the locomotive and introduced into the bottom of a cylinder 0 in which works a piston P, the rod P of which is connected with the valve of the air trap arranged in the smoke box door and it will be noted that this piston rod is of a peculiar nature consisting of a stub P rigidly attached to the piston proper and working in the recess end of the rod P. A coil spring P' surrounding the rod and held between the piston and the upper end of the cylinder-O, the purpose of said construction being to permit the valve of the air trap to automatically open whenever an excessive exhaust in the smoke box occurs, without disturbing the valve operating mechanism which is attached to the boiler head and operated from the fire box doors. When the fire box doors are closed, the parts assume their normal positions as shown in Fig. 3, and the com pressed air contained within the cylinder 0 and connecting pipe A is permitted to exhaust through the exhaust opening L.

To illustrate the application of my invention, I have shown the same applied to a locomotive 20, as indicated in Figs. 6, 7, and 8. The air pipe A is shown as connected to the cylinder 0, and the latter is connectedby a:link21, with a gate 22, pivoted in a short flue 28, arranged in the front of the boiler.

From the above'descriptiontaken in connection with the accompanying drawings,it

will be seen that I provide a simple and eflicient construction of air valve mechanism bymeans of which all of the objects hereinbefo-re referred to are accomplished.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In combination, a valve comprising a casing provided with an air inlet chamber and an air outlet chamber, said casing having a passage communicating with said air inlet and outlet chambers and a port leading from the air outlet chamber, an inletvalve mounted in the casing and straddling the air inlet chamber to controlthe passage,

an exhaust valve mounted in the casing to control the exhaust port, a lever pivoted to the inlet valve and extending beyond the casing in one direction and to the-exhaust port in the opposite direction, a pivotal co-n nection between the exhaust port and the lever, aboiler provided with a door at one end and an opening at the opposite end, a connection between the door and the lever, whereby when said door is opened the lever will be operated to open the passage and close the exhaust port, a gate cooperating with the opening in theboiler, a valve pivoted to the gate, means for normally seating the valve and closing the gate, a pipe communicatingwith the valve and the air outlet opening in the casing to permit air to operate the valve and open the gate, when the door of the boiler is opened, and means cooperating with the valve to permit the gate to open independently of the door by excessix e draft in the boiler.

2. In combination, aboiler provided with a fuel door and an opening, a casing adjacent the fueldoor, said casing having an inlet chamber and outlet chamber connected tion to operate the inlet valve to close the inlet port and upon further movement operate the exhaust valve to open the exhaust port, a connection between the door and the lever to operate the latter whenthe door is 1no-ved, a gate cooperating with the-opening in the boiler, a valve connected'to the gate,

nected therewith, said casing having two.

vertical bores and two horizontal bores all in the same vertical plane, said vertical'bores providing receiving and distributing chambers and the horizontal bores providing valve passages, one of said chambers being provided with an exhaust port, the casing having a passage between the inlet and'outlet chamber, an inlet in one of the valve passages tocontrol the passage between the inlet and outlet chambers, an exhaust valve in the other valve passage to control the exhaustport, and an operating lever connected a spring for normally closing said inlet valve, Eat one end with the exhaust valve and also fconnected atits ends with the inlet valve.

4. A valve mechanism comprising a casing having air inlet and outlet pipes connected therewith, said casing having two vertical bores and two horizontal bores all in the same vertical plane, said vertical bores providing receiving and distributing chambers, and the horizontal bores providing valve passages, one of said chambers being provided with an exhaust port, the casing having a passage between the inlet and outlet chambers, an inlet in one of the valve passages to control the passage between the inlet and outlet chambers, an exhaust valve in the other valve passage to control the exhaust port, an operating lever connected at one end with the exhaust valve and also connected intermediate its ends with the inlet valve,

.and means for normally holding the inlet valve closed.

5. A valve mechanism comprising a casing having inlet and outlet pipes connected therewith, said casing having two vertical bores and two horizontal bores and a vertical lever recess all in the same vertical plane,

said vertical bores providing receiving and -d1str1but1ng chambers and havlng plugs in their lower ends, the/horizontal bores providing valve passages, one of SELldChZLIHbGIS being provided with inlet and exhaust ports, valves arranged 1n the passages for controlling the lnlet and exhaust ports, means valve casing adjacent the doors, said casing having a chamber into which leads a pipe, a

second chamber formed in the casing and with which communicates an outlet pipe, there being a port formed between the two chambers, a valve in the casing for controlling said port, means for automatically closing said valve, the casing having an exhaust port communicating with the second mentioned chamber, an exhaust valve in the easing to cooperate with the exhaust port, a lever pivoted to the exhaust port and the first mentioned valve and extending beyond the casing, a rod connected to the pintles of the fuel doors, a sectional connection between the lever and the connecting rod comprising a sleeve on one section, a headed rod on the other section, springs interposed between the head rod and the ends of the sleeve, a gate for the draft opening, and a valve in the outlet pipe for operating the gate when the fuel doors are opened.

7 In combination, a boiler provided with a draft opening at its front end, a gate cooperatin with said draft opening, a cylinder, a plston in the cylinder, a connection between the piston and said gate, fuel doors having pintles on the boiler, a longitudinal shiftable bar connecting the pintles of said doors, a valve casing adjacent the fuel doors, said casing having inlet and exhaustports, valves controlling the inlet and exhaust ports, a pipe communicating with the exhaust port and the gate valve, a lever connected with said inlet and exhaust valves and extending from the casing, a connecting rod pivoted to the shiftable bar and the lever whereby when the doors are opened the valves will be operated and the piston will be moved and the gate opened.

8. In combination, a boiler formed at its front end with a draft opening, agate therefor, a cylinder, a piston in the cylinder, a connection between the piston and the gate, hinged fuel doors on the boiler, disks on the pintles of the doors, each disk having a crank pin, a valve casing having an inlet and an outlet chamber and inlet and exhaust ports, a pipe communicating with the outlet chamber and the cylinder, a valve controllin the inlet port, an exhaust valve for control ing the exhaust port, a lever pivotally connected to the inlet and exhaust valves, a bar having slots with which the crank pins engage, and a connecting rod connected at one end to the bar and at its opposite end to the lever.

9. In combination, a boiler formed at one end with a draft opening, a gate therefor, a cylinder, a piston in the cylinder, a connection between'the piston and the gate, movable fuel doors on the boiler, a. valve casing having an inlet and an outlet chamher and inlet and exhaust ports, a pipe communicating with the outlet chamber and the cylinder, a valve controlling the inlet port, an exhaust valve for controlling the exhaust port, a lever pivotally connected to the inlet and exhaust valves, and a connection be tween the lever and the doors whereby when the door is opened the valves will be operated to admit pressure to the outlet cham- "ber and operate the piston.

10. In combination, a boiler formed at one end with a draft opening, a gate therefor, a cylinder, a piston in the cylinder, a connection between the piston and the gate, means in the cylinder for permitting the gate to open when excessive draft occurs in the boiler, movable fuel doors on the boiler, a valve casing having an inlet and an outlet chamber and inlet and exhaust ports, a pipe communicating with outlet chamber and the cylinder, a valve controlling the inlet port, an exhaust valve for controlling the exhaust port, a lever pivotally connected to the inlet and exhaust valves, and a connection between the lever and the doors, whereby when 7 JOHN MILTON.

Witnesses E. B. MGBATH, REA ALBRIGHT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0.

Images