US1095398A - Feed-water regulator. - Google Patents

Description

W. D. HODGSON.

FEED WATER REGULATOR. APPLIOATIONYIILED SEPT. 19, 1913 Patented May 5, 1914.

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W. D. HODGSON.

FEED WATER REGULATOR. APPLIOATION PILE D SEPT.19, 1913.

1 Q95 398 Patented May 5, 1914.

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WILLIAM D. HODGSON, 015 DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASS'IGNOR TO ALEXANDER J. MCDONOUGH, 0F DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

FEED-WATER REGULATOR.

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To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM D. HODGSON, a subject of the King of Great Britain and Ireland, residing at Detroit, in the county of Wayne and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Feedater Regulators, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to feed water regulators and resides in certain novel and peculiar constructions, arrangements and combinations of parts as will be more fully hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings,Figure 1 is an end elevation of a boiler showing my improved regulator applied thereto; Fig. 2 is a plan view partlyin section, of the regulator; Fig. 3 is a sectional plan view of the expansible section of the regulator; Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate certain details of construction; and Fig. 6 is a plan view, with certain parts broken away, illustrating manner of attachment to boiler.

A designates the boiler, B the feed water conduit leading from the pump or other suitable source of supply to the boiler, and C the valve controlling the admission of water to the boiler.

D designates the regulator which is arranged exteriorly of the boiler and comprises an expansible section, herein shown as composed of tubes E and F formed of suitable expansible material and connected at opposite ends by suitable cross-heads G H. The head G is in communication with the interior of the boiler at the normal water level, by means or" a conduit I, while a pipe J establishes communication between the head H and the steam space of the boiler. Operative connection between the valve G and the regulator is efiected through the medium of a rod L having one end attached to the valve and the other end operatively connected to the regulator.

The arrangement of parts hereinbefore described is old in the art, but is open to numerous objections among which are that the expansion of the regulator has not been suflicient to properly open the valve, while there has been a tendency for the expansion to produce leaky joints or breaks in the regulator.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed September 19, 1913.

Also with the specific construction Patented Mayfi, 1914.

Serial No. 790,769.

of regulator described, the tubes E" and F upon expansion tend to warp or bow outward, thereby preventing a correct actuation of the valve controlling the supply conduit. With my improved arrangement of parts not only are these objections overcome, but furthermore a simple structure is produced which is exceedingly accurate and eflicient in operation. Thus in order to insure sufliconduits or tubes E and F.

U is a cross-bar having bearing'portions V rigidly clamped to the tubes.

W is a central bearing in the bar U through which the rod L passes, and X is a second cross-bar also provided with a central bearing Y to permit the rod L to pass therethrough. The bearing Y is provided with a seat Z for one end of a spring A which passes through the bearing W and has its opposite end engaging a fixed collar B upon the rod L. The spring A tends to hold the valve C to its seat and in order to permit the tension of the spring A to be varied, the crossbar X is made adjustable. Thus, the bearing portion C and the bar K have a slidable engagement with the tubes E and F, and the member X is adjustably connected to the fixed cross-bar U through the medium of bolts D passing through apertures a Z) inthe cross-bars. By shortening the bolts the tension upon the spring is increased, while by lengthening the members D the cross-bar X is permitted to move to lessen the tension. The lower end of the rod L engages a suitable guide E carried by the cross-head H, the outer end of the guide E being provided with a suitable packing gland F for the rod L.

In operation of the structure so far de scribed, when the water in the boiler is at the normal level line, the valve 0 is closed and the conduit I, tubes E F and cross-heads G and H filled with water, while the pipe J is open to the steam space of the boiler. Upon the lowering of the water level in the boiler below the normal, the end of the conduit communicating with the boiler is uncovered and the water in the regulator correspondingly lowers or discharges into the boiler. Steam then passes through the conduits I and J into the heads G and H and from the latter into the tubes E and F, thereby highly heating the tubes. The members E and F when highly heated expand, producing an elongation which increases the distance between the cross-heads H and G and causes the connection T to operate the valve rod L to open the valve C and permit water to be fed to the boiler through the pipe B. The elongation of the tubes is of course comparatively slight and materially less than the movement which is desired for the valve C. Through the medium of the multiplying lever however, the slight movement of the expansible section of the regu later is sufficiently enlarged to produce a proper travel of the valve. Upon the water in the boiler reaching the normal level, water fills the regulator through the conduit I and seals the end of this conduit that opens into the boiler, thereby preventing steam from entering the regulator. When the tubes E and F are filled with water they are cooled and rapidly contract, allowing the valve to be closed by the spring A.

As before stated, during the expansion of the tubes E and F there is a tendency for these members to bow or warp outwardly. Outward bowing of the tubes would of course decrease the lengthening of these members when the regulator expands, but with my improved construction the crossbars U and X form ties intermediate the ends of the tubes E and F and prevent bowing thereof. To adjust the connection T in proper relation to the valve rod and the multiplying lever, this connection is formed of two sections G H secured together by a turnbuckle I. The turnbuckle is provided with two right-hand differential threads so as to permit a very accurate adjustment of the length of the connection T to be had without employing extremely fine pitch threads. If the ordinary turn-buckle arrangement were employed, extremely fine pitch threads would be required, which would not be practical, but by arranging the threads in the same direction, a differential adjustment can be made to a very fine degree.

The cross-head H is formed from a single casting, so as to give it the required strength and also to reduce the number of joints to a minimum. Thus the connection K for the pipe J is formed adjacent the center or a bowed section L that is provided at opposite ends with couplings M N with which the pipes E F respectively have a threaded engagement. Extending between the outer extremities of the bowed section L are arms 0 which carry a section E having an opening a for receiving the upper end of the guide E the latter being secured within the opening a by means of a nut Z) engaging the outer end of the guide E which is threaded. The outer end of the guide E is provided with a threaded section U which is adapted to engage the casing V of the valve C. I also find it desirable to form the head G of a single casting, the preferred construction comprising a section 1 having a coupling G centrally thereof for engaging the conduit 1, and having couplings R S at its opposite ends. In order to permit the head G to be readily removed, the connection between the members E and F and the couplings R S is made through the medium of unions T.

W is a bearing cast integral with the section P and to which the upper end of the rod H is attached.

The construction hereinbefore described forms a simple and durable regulator and one which readily responds to the condition of the boiler.

hat I claim as my invention is 1. The combination with a boiler, of a water supply conduit therefor and a controlling valve for said conduit, of a regulator for said valve comprising a hollow expansible section, a connection between the steam chamber of the boiler and the interior of said expa-nsible section, a connection between the boiler at the normal. water level and the interior of said section, a rod for actuating said valve, a multiplying lever mechanism connected to said rod and a sectional rod connecting said multiplying lever mechanism and said expansible section, including a turn-buckle connecting the sections of the sectional rod, the threads at the opposite ends of the turn-buckle being in the same direction and differential pitch.

2. The combination with a boiler, of a water supply conduit therefor and a controlling valve for said conduit, of a regulator for said valve comprising spaced tubes formed of expansible metal and having their opposite ends connected by hollow headers, one of said headers being in communication with the steam chamber oi the boiler and the other header communicating with the boiler at the normal water level thereof, a rod for actuating said valve, a multiplying lever mechanism attached to said rod, a connection having one end secured to said multiplying lever mechanism and having the opposite end attached to one of said headers, an adjustable cross-bar engaging said tubes and provided with a bearing through which the valve rod extends, a bearing on the rod, a spring having one end engaging the last-mentioned bearing and having the opposite end engaging said cross-bar.

3. The combination with a boiler, of a water supply conduit therefor and a conplying lever mechanism and having the opposite end attached to one of said headers, a cross-bar slidably engaging said tubes and provided with a bearing through which said rod extends, a second cross-bar fixedly connected to the tubes, adjustable connections between said cross-bars, a spring engaging the first-mentioned cross-head and acting to close the valve, and a bearing on the second cross-head through which said spring extends.

4. The combination with a boiler, of a water supply conduit therefor and a controlling valve for said conduit, of a regulator for said valve comprising spaced tubes formed of expansible metal and having their opposite ends connected by hollow headers, one of said headers being in communication with the steam chamber of the boiler and the other header communicating with the boiler at the normal Water level thereof, a rod for actuating said valve, a multiplying lever mechanism attached to said rod, and a connection having one end secured to said multiplying lever mechanism and having the opposite end attached to one of said headers, a cross-bar slidably engaging said tubes, a second cross-bar spaced from the first mentioned cross-bar and fixedly attached to the tubes, adjustable connections between said cross-bars, and a spring acting to normally close said valve and having one end abutting against said first mentioned crossbar.

5. The combination with a boiler, of a water supply conduit therefor and a controlling valve for said conduit, of a regulator for said valve comprising spaced tubes formed of expansible metal and having their opposite ends connected by hollow headers, one of said headers being in communication with the steam chamber of the boilerand the other header communicating with the boiler at the normal water level thereof, a rod for actuating said valve arranged intermediate said tubes, a guide for said rod carried by one of said headers, a multiplying lever mechanism attached to the valve rod, a connection intermediate the tubes having one end secured to the multiplying lever mechanism and having the opposite end attached to the other of said headers, a cross-bar slidably engaging the tube and having a bearing portion intermediate the headers through which said rod extends, a collar on the rod, a spring having one end engaging said collar and having the opposite end engaging,

said cross-bar, and means for adjusting said cross-bar to vary the tension of said spring. 6. The combination with a boiler, of a water supply conduit therefor and a controlling valve for said conduit, of a regulator for said valve comprising spaced tubes formed of expansible metal and having their opposite ends connected by hollow headers, one of said headers being in communication with the steam chamber of the boiler and the other header communicating with the boiler at the normal water level thereof, a rod for actuating said valve, one of the headers comprising an integral casting having couplings for respectively engaging the spaced tubes, a hollow section connecting said couplings and provided with a coupling intermediate the ends thereof, a cross-connection between said couplings for engaging the tubes, and a guide for the valve rod carried by said cross-connection.

7. The combination with a boiler, of a water supply conduit therefor and a controlling valve for said conduit, of a regulator for said valve comprising spaced tubes formed of expansible metal and having their opposite ends connected by hollow headers, one of said headers being in communication with the steam chamber of the boiler and the other header communicating with the boiler at the normal water level thereof, a rod for actuating said valve, a multiplying lever mechanism comprising a link having one end pivotally connected to said rod, brackets secured to said tubes, arms pivotally connected to and projecting laterally from said brackets, one of said arms being pivotally connected to the other end of said link and a second link having one end pivotally connected to said arm intermediate the ends of the latter and having the opposite end pivotally connected to the end of the other arm, and a connection attached at one end to one of said headers and'having the opposite end pivotally connected to the last-mentioned arm intermediate the ends of the latter.

In testimony whereof I afix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM D. HODGSON.

Witnesses:

WM. J. BELKNAP, ALEXANDER J. MODONOUGH.

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

' "Washington, D. C.

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