US1042011A - Steam, air, and water trap valve. - Google Patents

Description

F. W. LEUTHESSER. STEAM, AIR, AND WATER TRAP VALVE. APYLIOATION FILED FEB. 1'7, 1910.

1 ,Q42,()1 1 Patented Oct. 22, 1912.

FRED W. LEUTI-IESSER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

STEAM, AIR, AND WATER TRAP VALVE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 22,1912.

Application filed. February 17, 1910. Serial No. 544,334..

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRED IV. LEUTHnssnR, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Steam, Air, and ater Trap Valves, of which the following is a specification.

The valve of the present invention is employed in steam heating systems, either vacuum, gravity, or drain; and in use is a:- tached to the discharge end of a radiator and the return pipe of the system, and is employed to discharge air and water of condensation passing out from the radiator.

One object of the present invention is to provide a shell located within the interior of the valve casing; which shell will entirely surround the float and form a shield to pr"- vent the inrushing water coming through the inlet passage into the chamber of the casing from impinging against the float and exerting a motor action, which would tend to deflect the float from its normal course of movement. The shell further serves as a dam, so that the agitation of the water in the chamber of the casing, which would be caused by the inrushing flow of water, is not communicated to the water immediately surrounding the float. Hence the float is surrounded by and operates in a still body of water, which tends to make its unvements solely by flotation and noiseless.

A further object of the invention is to provide a guide stem, which will guide and maintain the float in a straight line during its up and down movements; and also to provide an air passage through said guide stem which will serve to conduct the air from the chamber of the casing into the discharge outlet.

Another object of the invention is to 'provide an outlet for any water or air which may accidentally or otherwise accumulate in the interior or the float; and a further object is to so form the tube in which the guide member extends that it will be impossible to insert the float into the casing in a reversed condition.

The invention further consists in the features of construction and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of the valve of the present invention; and Fig. 2, a section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrow.

The valve of the present invention. as shown, consists of a casing 3, preferably 01 cylindrical formation, which is provided with a neck 4 having an inlet opening 5 therein, and to which is attached a coupling member 6 for attaching the valve to the discharge end of the radiator. The casing is further provided with a downwardly extending stem 7, having a discharge outlet 8 therein, and with an outwardly extending boss 9, which is screw-threaded on its interior to receive a gland 10 which bears against a packing 10; and entered intosaid gland is a stem 11, having a tapered end 12 serving as a valve. The stem is screw-threaded, on its exterior, for a portion or" its length, and the screw threads on the stem mesh with a screw thread formed in the wall of the hole in the boss 9, through which hole the stem 11 passes. The tapered or valve end 12 serves to control communication between a port 13, communicating with the discharge passage 8 and a passageway lt extending down from the lower end of the chamber in the valve casing. The bypass thus tormed is used for the purpose of draining off any sediment which may collect in the bottom of the chamber in the valve casing.

Atfixed to the upper end of the valve casing is a cap or cover 15, formed with a depending boss 16, into which, as shown, is entered the screw-threaded end 17 ot a fixed guide member 18. The guide member is formed with a longitudinally extending bore 19, which serves as a passageway to conduct air from the chamber of the easing into the discharge passage; and communieating with the bore 19 are cross passages or ports 20, which communicate directly with the chamber of the casing. The tubular guide member is entered into a vertically extending tube 21, which has its lower end 22 surrounding a discharge port 23 formed 1n a shouldered valve plug 2 1, which is screw-threaded into the discharge opening 8; and the tube 21 is further provided with an inwardly extending bead 25. which reduces the interior diameter of the tube at this point to a size less than the exterior diameter of the guide member 18, andprevents the guide member from being inserted into the tube, it the float should be placed in the casing in a reversed condition from that shown in the drawings. The tube 21 is further provided wi h an opening 26., l ated adjacent to the lower end of the interior of a float 27, by means of which opening any water or air which may accidentally or otherwise gather in the interior of the float will escape into the discharge passage. The tube 21 is fixed to and carried by the float- 27, operating within and inclosed by a shell 28. The body of this shell, as shown, is provided, midway of its length, with a plu ralit-y of water inlet openings 29, and this shell 28, as shown, extends upward to a point adjacent to the lower inner face of the cap 15. The shell 28, however, is of a size so that a clearance is formed between the shell and the inner side wall of the cap, which provides a passageway 30 for air into the interior of the shell. The shell 28 is provided with an auxiliary passageway 31, below the lower edge of the cap 15, which will, in case the passageway 30 should become clogged, allow air to pass into the interior of the shell from the chamber of the casing. The shell is inturned at its lower end 32, and such end is clamped between the shouldered valve plug 2 1 and the bottom wall or floor of the chamber of the casing.

The operation is as follows: When steam is admitted to the radiator, air will be forced out therefrom and will pass through the port or ports 20 into the air discharge passage 19 of the tubular stem or member 18, and be discharged into the outlet from the valve casing. After the air has been discharged from the radiator, water of condensation will discharge from the radiator into the chamber of the casing and rise therein, and flow under a reduced pressure into the shell until the line of flotation of the float member has been reached, after which. the float will rise, carrying with it the tube 2-1 and unseating the lower end of the tube from around the discharge port 23. This will permit the water to pass out through the discharge port 23 into the discharge passage 8 and into the return pipe of the system. The lower end of the shell 28 will serve as a dam, so that the water of condensation en tering the casing will rise to a point level with the water inlet openings 29 and form a seal, which will prevent an undue amount of steam from passing from the radiator into the valve casing; and the shell will. further serve as a shield to cause a still body of water to surround the float, which body of water will not be constantly agitated by the inrushing water coming through the inlet 5, and the float will operate under the best possible conditions to prevent noise, from rattling or other causes.

It will be noted that the ports or passages 20 in the stem 18 lie intermediate the lower edge of the cover and the upper end of the float when the float is in the lowered position shown in Fig. 1, thus allowing a tree passage of air from the interior of the float chamber through the tube 18 and out through the discharge passage. lVhen the float rises, however, the upper end of the tube 21, which is secured to the float, will cover the ports or passages 20, cutting ofl' the passage of air through the passage 19 of the tube 18, and conserving the air pres' sure above the water in the float chamber, thus allowing a maximum efliciency of the vacuum in drawing the water from the float chamber.

I claim:

1. In a valve of the class described, the combination of a casing having an inlet opening and a discharge opening therein, acap for closing the upper end of the casing, a float within the casing for governing the discharge opening, a tube centrally extending through said float and aflixed thereto, a fixed guide member secured to said cap and entering said tube and having a central longitudinal bore therein constituting a passage for the conduction of air through the float and into the discharge passage, a transverse bore in the Wall of said guide member ex.- tending at right angles to the longitudinal bore and establishing communication between the interior of the casing and the interior of the guide member, said tube covering said bore when the float is raised, whereby passage of air through the float is prevented during the water discharging operation, and a shell surrounding said float and provided wit-h a water inlet opening and formed of an imperforate body between the water inlet opening and its lower end, and having an air inlet at its upper end, and means for securing the shells in position within the valve casing, substantially as described.

2. In a valve of the class described, the combination of a casing having an inlet opening and a discharge opening therein, a cap for closing the upper end of the casing, a float within the casing for governing the discharge opening, a tube centrally extending through said float and affixed thereto, a fixed guide member secured to said cap and entering said tube and having a centrally longitudinal bore therein constituting a pas sage for the conduction of air through the float into the discharge member, a transverse bore in the wall of said guide member extending at right angles to the longitudinal bore and establishing communication be tween the interior of the casing and the interior of the guide member, said transverse bore being covered by said tube when the float is raised, whereby passage of air through said float is prevented during the water discharging operation, a shell surrounding said float and provided with a water inlet and an air inlet and formed of an impert'orate body between the water inlet opening and its lower end and between the water inlet and air inlet, a shouldered plug entered into the discharge passage and provided with a centrally located bore communicating with the discharge passage and presenting a flat upper face for the tube of the float to rest against, the shell being clamped between the shouldered plug and the floor of the casing, substantially as described.

3. In a valve of the class described, the combination of a casing having an inlet opening and a discharge opening therein, a closure for the upper end of the casing, a float within the casing governing the discharge opening, a guide stem for the float secured to said closure and having a longitudinal passage therethrough communicating with the outlet, a transverse bore through the wall of said stem communicating with the longitudinal passage, said transverse bore lying intermediate the lower end of the closure and the upper end of the float when the float is lowered, said float in its upward movement covering said transverse bore and cutting off communication between the upper portion of the float chamber and said longitudinal passage, thereby conserving the air above the water in the float chamber during the water discharging operation, substantially as described.

FRED lV. LEUTHESSER. lVitnesses WM. P. BOND, THOMAS A. BANNING, Jr.

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

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