US1054805A - Thermostatic attachment for steam-valves. - Google Patents

Description

W. E. TILLINGHAST.

THERMOSTATIU ATTACHMENT FOR STEAM VALVES.

fXPPLIGATION FILED NOV. 11, 1912.

Patented Mar. 4, 1913 1 ,z 'q /6 i 6 if, A H

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WALLACE E. TILLINGHAST, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

THERMosTATIc ATTACHMENT FOR STEAM-VALVES.

Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed November 11, 1912. Serial No. 730,607.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALLACE E. TILLING- HAST, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Worcester, county of Worcester, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Thermostatic Attachments for Steam-Valves, of whichthe following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letterson the drawings representing like parts.

My invent-ion is a thermostatic attachment applicable to practically all kinds of steam valves and particularly intended for radiator valves.

Various more or less complicated thermostatic attachments have heretofore been provided and suggested, entailing a .corresponding expense in their purchase and operation, and it is one of the principal objects of my invention to eliminate the mess sity of providing a special valve, while at the same time gaining the chief advantages thereof. Tothis end I have devised the hereinafter described attachment having such form" and construction that it can be readily applied to the ordinary steam valves as they are commonly found in use.

Further advantages of my invention reside in providing a liquid thermostatic element so arranged that all the steam and Water of condensation which passes through the valve comes into direct contactthere with, thereby giving the thermostatic closing device the utmost sensitiveness and responsiveness. The liquid is hermetically sealed against possible escape or evaporation and yet is confined entlrely in the at-.

tachment as distinct from being wholly or partly dependent upon the valve proper and is so housed as todoe entirely protected from injury.

A, further feature resides 'in having the adjustment of the attachment entirely on rior parts and surfaces.

the outsideof the apparatus so that it is unnecessary to dismember either the valve or the attachment in order to adjust the latter to any temperature of return condensation desired. Also the construction is such as to facilitate the ready cleaning of its inte- The thermostatic element is preferably in the form of'a liquid' carrying tube or long stem provided with'the closing member of the valve adjacent its lower end and opening into the pressure chamber at its upper end, prefer: ably above the valve proper, said tube or stem being yieldingly supported by the bottom surface of said chamber or directly connected thereto so as to be moved positively in response to the variations in pressure within said chamber.

In the drawings, in which I have shown a preferred embodiment of my invention,Figure 1 is a central vertical sectional view of my attachment applied inoperative position to a usual radiator valve; and Fig. 2 is a view of the attachment in side elevation, partly broken away for clearness of illustration.

The attachment proper consists of 9. casing 1 having a' itop or chamber cover 2 at its upper end between which is supported or clamped a movable member herein shown as a sheet metal diaphragm 3 to which is centrally attached a tube or long depending stem 4 having adjacent its lower end a valve or valve seat 5. The lower end of the easing 1 is threaded as indicated at 6 to fit the usual threaded gland opqening commonly found in radiator valves and the like, such;

as the "alve 7 where the ordinary bonnet and stem are usually mounted. The cover cap or top 2 is shown as dome shaped for providing a pressure chamber 8 between 1t and the I diaphragm 3 and the latter is clamped peripherally between the peripheral edges of the'upper. end of the casing and said cover cap and dome 2 by any suit-- able means as by a series of bolts 9. The hollow stem or thermostatic tube 4 has a threaded upper end 10 to permit of its being readily secured. in proper adjustment centrally of the diaphragm 3 by means of opposite nuts 11, 12 and is further held Patented Mar. 4, 1913. s

properly centered by-a spring 13 surroun.d-

mg the upper end of the stem 4 between the nut 11 and the adjacent inner surface of the casing at the shoulder 14 thereof.

The casing preferably has a size affording a small annular passage 15 between it and the stem. A filling plug 16 is provided in the cover cap 2 for filling the tube and chamber with the proper amount of fillin liquid 17. The thermostatic medium 1 may be of any volatile fluid, as, for instance, .bi-sulfid of carbon or a combination of ether and naphtha, or in fact, any substance that sence of said maximum temperature.

will volatilize so as to expand into the chamber 8 suiiiciently to operate the diaphragm 3 and stem 4 so as to close the valve 5 in the presence of the predetermined maximum temperature, and release said valve 5 and permit it to open in the ab- An air port or vent 18 is provided in the valve seat 5 to prevent the valve from becoming sealed, when closed, by the suction from th return pump of the circulation system. The adjustment of the attachment is regulated by an externallock nut 19 on the threaded end 6 of the casing, just above the body 20 of the valve.

\Vhile I have described my invention in its preferred details and have shown that em bodiment which I have found to be very practicable for most forms of steam valves, it will be understood that I am not restricted to the constructional details herein presented, as my invention is capable of a wide variety of embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, considered in its broader aspects.

In use, let it be supposed that my attachment is to be applied to the ordinary steam radiator valve. The usual bonnet and valve stem are screwed out from the valve body 20 and the threaded end 6 of my attachment is mounted in place thereof, being adjusted to exactly the right height by the look nut 19. Since the relatively thin walled stem or thermostatic tube 4: extends down into the valve directly in the path of all the steam and water of condensation which must flow through said valve, it will be-evident that this relatively long and sensitive member must be brought under the direct influence of said steam and water of condensation under such conditions as to have the utmost responsiveness. Not only does the relatively long and thin walled stem afford the steam a maximum of contact, but the stem extends down into the valve and preferably below the valve seat into the outlet opening 21 of the steam valve so that the volatile fluid 17 is sure to be volatilized at the proper moment. As the liquid 17 is thus volatilized or raised in temperature, it increases the pressure in the pressure chamber 8 until the diaphragm 3 which constitutes the lower wall of said chamber is thereby depressed, carrying with it the stem 4 until the valve seat 5 seats firmly against the cooperating seat 22 of the steam valve, thereby shutting off further passage of steam. The spring 13 is provided of such extent that when the valve 5 is seated it will be entirely collapsed, thereby offering a solid support or resistance to the nut or head 11 of the valve stem 4 so as to resist any further possible movement of the valve stem and its diaphragm 3 which might otherwise tend to destroy the diaphragm 3 or buckle it so that it could not recover itself. This is the main function of said spring 13.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that my apparatus is not only simple in its parts and inexpensive in its construction, but that it can be readily applied to practically any shape or type of valve body. By having the attachment controlled externally by suitable adjusting means as by the lock nut 19, the valve seat 5 may be instantly adjusted with the utmost accuracy without opening the steam valve or diso-rganizing any of the parts. I consider this provision for external adjustment of considerable advantage, whereby the ordinary house holder or user of the attachment may readily adjust the thermostat to any temperature of return condensation or steam heat desired, simply by loosening the lock nut 19 and then turning the attachment up or down to the extent required and again tightening the lock nut. The thermostatic fluid 17 is not intended to escape in any way, but if for any reason it should become depleted, a fresh supply is readily provided through the filling opening simply by removing the filling plug 16, without disturbing in any way the steam valve or attachment. So in case the attachment should for any reason need cleaning, this may be readily done by simply tak ing olf the top 2, thereby exposing all the fluid affected surfaces so that they may be quickly and readily cleaned. I prefer to have the valve seats formed as fiat surfaces, as I have found this construction most efiicicnt. The valve stem normally depends in such centering position as properly to aline these valve seats, but as it is supported by the relatively flexible diaphragm it is obvious that it will automatically adjust itself to such slight extent as may be necessary. The annular passage 15 permits the valve .stem to have such limited lateral movement as may be required, as well as alfording a free passage for the surrounding air and steam, as is desirable for counterbalancing the diaphragm to some extent.

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

1. A thermostatic attachment for a steam valve, comprising a casing mounted externally of the steam valve and having provision for a pressure chamber in said casing, also externally of said valve, a diaphragm secured across said casing to form one side of said pressure chamber, a hollow valve stem opening into said chamber and secured to said diaphragm to move therewith, said stem extendingout of said casing into said steam valve in the normal path of the steam through the latter, a volatile fluid in said hollow stem for varying the pressure in said pressure chamber and thereby operating the diaphragm, and a valve seat in operative relation to the cooperative valve-seat of the steam valve and to said stem to be operated by the latter. g

2. A thermostatic attachment for a steam valve, comprising a casing mounted externally of the steam valve and having provi-t sion for a pressure chamber insaid casing, also externally of said valve, a diaphragm secured across said casing to form one side of said pressure chamber, a hollow valve stem opening into said chamber and secured to said diaphragm to move therewith, said stem extending out of said casing into said steam valve in the normal path of the steam through the latter, a volatile fluid in said hollow stem for varying the pressure in said pressure chamber and thereby operating the diaphragm, and a valve seat in operative relation to the cooperative valve-seat of the steam valve and to said stem to be operated by the latter, the freeend of said hollow stem extending beyond both of said valve seats and into the outlet passage of the steam valve for rendering the valve stem ex tremely sensitive to the passage of steam.

3. A thermostatic attachment for a steam valve, comprising a casing mounted externally of the steam valve and having pro vision for a pressure chamber in said casing, also externally of said valve, a diaphragm secured across said casing to form one side of said pressure chamber, a hollow valve stem opening into said chamber and secured to said diaphragm to move therewith, said stem extending out of said casing into said steam valve in the normal path of the steam through the latter, a volatile fluid in said -hol1ow stem for varying the pressure in said pressure chamber and thereby operating the diaphragm, and a valve seat in operative relationto the cooperative valve-seat of the steam valve and to said stem to be operated by the latter, said casing having a reduced portion between the steam valve and said pressure chamber surrounding said hollow stem and affording a small annular assage around thestem to said "diaphragm or per-" mitting direct access of the steam heat to the entire length of said stem.

4. A thermostatic attachment for a steam valve, comprising a casing mounted externally of the steam valve and having provision for a pressure chamber in said casing, also externally of said valve, a diaphragm secured across said casing to form one side of said pressure chamber, a hollow valve stem opening into said chamber and secured to said diaphragm to move therewith, said stem extending out of said easing into said steam valve in the normal path of the steam through the latter, a volatile fluid in said hollow stem for varying the pressure in said pressure chamber and thereby operating the diaphragm, and a valve seat in operative re lation to the cooperative valve-seat of the 1 steam valve and to said stem'to steam valve and to said stem to be operated by the latter, said casing having a reduced portion between the steam valve and said pressure chamber surrounding said hollow stem and aflording a small annular passage around the stem to said diaphragm for permitting direct access of the steam heat to the entire length of said stem, said casing terminating in a flattened dome-shaped outer end having a removable cover cap for securing said diaphragm and forming the outermost side of said pressure chamber.

5. A thermostatic attachment for a steam valve, comprising a casing provided with external mounting and adjusting means for securing it to the valve and having provision for a pressure chamber therein externally of said valve, a diaphragm secured across said casing to form one side ofsaid pressure chamber, a hollow valve stem opening into said chamber and secured to said diaphragm to move therewith, said stein extending within said casing into said valve in the normal path of the steam through the latter, a volatile fluid in-said hollow stem for varying the pressure in said pressure chamber and thereby operating the diaphragm, and a valve seat in operative relation to the cooperative valve seat of the be operated by the latter. I

6. A thermostatic attachmentfor a steam valve, comprising a casing provided with external mounting'and adjusting means for securmg it to the valve and having provi-' sion for a pressure chamber therein externally of said valve, a dlaphragm secured across said casing to form one side of said pressure chamber, a hollow valve stem opening into said chamber and secured to said diaphragm to move therewith, said stem extending within said casing into said valve in the normal path of the steam through the latter, a volatile fluid in said hollow stem for varying the pressurein said pressure chamber and thereby operating the diaphragm, and a valve seat in operative relation to the cooperative valve seat of the steam valve and to said stem to be operated by the latter, said valve seat containing.an air vent aflording limited passage, for the steam and airwhen the valve is closed.

7. A thermostatic attachment for a steam valve, comprising a casing provided with external mounting and adjusting means for securing it to the valve and having provision for a pressure chamber therein externally of said valve, a diaphragm secured across said casing to form one side of said pressure chamber, a hollow valve stem opening into said chamber and secured to said diaphragm to move therewith, said stem extending within said easing into said valve in the normal path of the steam through the latter, a volatile fluid in said hollow stem for varying the pressure in said 'presslire In testimony whereof, I have signed my chamber and thereby operating the dianame to this specification, in the presence '10 phragm, a valve seat in operative relation of tWo subscribing Witnesses.

to the cooperative valve seat of the steam valve and tosaid stem to be operated by the VVALLAGE TILLINGHAST latter, and a spring stop between said dia- Witnesses:

phragm and casing for positively limiting GEO. H. MAXWELL,

the expanding movement of the diaphragm. EDWARD MAXWELL.

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