US1186427A - Ventilating-fan. - Google Patents

Description

1. NEWCOME, VENTILATING FAN.

, APPLICATION FILED-MAR. I,

Patented June 6, 1916.

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T. J. NEWCOME.

VENTILATING FAN. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 1, 1.915.

1 186 427. Patented June 6, 1916. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

whim-cones UNITED, STATES PATENT onruon.

THOMAS J. NEWCOME, 0F HASTIN GS, PENNSYLVANIA.

VENTILATING-FAN.

Application filed Mar-ch 1, 1915.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS J. NEWCOME, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hastings, in the county of Cambria, State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ventilating- Fans; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to ventilating fans designed especially for use in connection with the ventilation of mines, although I wish it to be understood that it is not limited in its useful application to this particular purpose, but may be employed 1n any connection where it may be deemed advantageous.

In the present instance it is mypurpose to provide a fan of the blower type, which under certain conditions may be operated as a suction fan, as when it is desiredto withdraw foul air and gas from the mine, and. which when desired may be quickly converted into a pressure fan as when it is desired to force or pump'fresh air into the mine.

Still a further object of my invention is the provision of a fan equipped with radial, bodily shiftable arms carrying pivoted vanes orblades, and mechanism for shifting the arms during the operation of the fan so that each set of vanes or blades, as it passes the air intake or inlet will be closed to form a substantially continuous or solid wing which takes the air from the inlet and forces it toward the outlet, the vanes of each set gradually opening or feathering as they recede from the inlet and approach the outlet so that when the latter is reached the vanes or blades of the set are spaced apart, and instead of hindering the escape of-air, assist in discharging such air.

Another object of the invention. is-the. provision of deflector plates which may be. adjusted to one position to direct the current of air when the fan is in use as a suction fan, and may-be adjusted to another position to direct the current of-air when the fan is operating as a pressure blower.

It is also my purposeto provide a fanof this type which will operate at maximum efficiency with. a minimum expenditure of power. and which will embody the desired features, of simplicity and durability, and

Specification of Letters Patent.

Serial No. 11,235.

Patented June 6, 1916.

may be manufactured and marketed at a' Y relatively low cost.

With the above recited objects and others of a similar nature in view,'my invention consists in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts set forth in and View of the rack and gear mechanism for reversing or changing the direction of action of the fan, and illustrating the cam groove formed in the inner face of the disk carrying the circular rack. Fig. 6 is a detail view of a portion of the fan and-showfanisused as a pressure blower. I w1ll first describemy invention when it is arranged to be employed as a suction .ing the position of certain parts when the- I l blower, aswhen'for instance, it is desired ii to draw foul air from a mine, and in the accompanying drawings Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive show the parts as they are when the fan is so operated, while in'Fig; 6 certain'parts are shown in the position they occupy when the fan is to be employed, for instance, in forcing air into the mine.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings in detail, the supporting standards 1 are provided at their upper ends with bearings 2 for the power shaft 3, which may be driven from any suitable engine. Keyed on this shaft are the end hubs land 5 and the intermediate hub 6. Circular end plates 7 and 8 are carried by the hubs 4 and f- 5, and these plates also form movable side walls for the casing, as will hereafter appear. An intermediate or partition plate 9, also circular in form, is carried bythe hub 6.

y The letter A indicates a sheet of metal i lar. discharge. duct D through which the air is discharged from the fan. The opposite end section 12 ofthe metal sheet A forms the top wall of the air inlet pipe I. A'simi-.

lar piece 'ofsheet metal B is curved inter-v mediate lengtlito form the bottom wall 13 of the fan casing with one end of the sheet bent downward at an angle as at 13 to form the bottom wall of the air discharge duct D, while the opposite end of the sheetB is extended as at 14 to form the bottomsection of the inlet pipe I. The longitudinal side edges of the curved sections 10 and 13, which as stated formthe top and bottom walls of the casing, are bent to provide the flanges 15 which. overlie the adjacent peripheral portions of the circular side plates 7 and 8. Side rings 16 bolted to the flanges complete the casing.

It will be seen that the central partition 9 divides the fan into two chambers E and F. Surrounding the portion of the shaft 3 extending through the chamber E is a drum 17, while a similar drum 18 is likewise located in the chamber F. Each of these drums has rigid therewith and extending from the periphery thereof a series of blades or wings 19, the wings of one drum being in staggered relation to the wings of the other drum. Within the chamber E is a series of sets of radially disposed independent vanes, each set being indicated as an entirety by the letter G. In the present in stance each set of vanes is made up of three independent vanes shown at 20, 21 and 22 arranged edge to edge and adapted when closed to form a wing which will extend from the wings 19 to the wall of the casing. The three vanes 20, 21. and 22 vary in size, the outer vane 20 being narrower than the intermediate vane 21, while the latter in turn is narrower than the inner vane 22. These vanes are provided with pivot studs 23 and 2 1 at their ends, the studs 24 socket ing in the partition plate 9, while the studs 23 are made relatively long and extend through the end plate 7. Likewise in the chamber F is provided a series of sets of vanes, each set being shown at G, and each set is composed of the three vanes 20, 21 and 22', which are counterparts of the vanes 20. 21 and 22, but are arranged in staggered relation to the latter and not in transverse alinement therewith. These vanes 20, 21 and 22' are provided at their inner edges with pintles 2 1 which are socketed in the partition plate 9, and at their outer edges with pintles or studs 23' which extend through the side plate 8. The pintles or studs of the vanes which project through the circular end plates are connected with links 25 which lie against the outer faces of the plates, and these links are provided with longitudinal slots 26 in which work the pins 27 carried by the radially disposed shifting arms 28 which slide through guide brackets 29 fastened to the outside of the circular end plates 7 and 8. These arms 29 carry rollers 30 at their inner ends, and these rollers ride in the eccentric cam grooves 31 formed in the inner faces of the disks 32 loosely mounted upon the shaft 3 adjacent the outer faces of the side plates 7 and 8. These disks 32 in turn are provided peripherally with the circular gear racks 33 with which mesh the Worm gears 34 adapted to be turned by the hand operated shaft 35, suitable handles 36being provided for this purpose.

From thedescription thus far given, and

referring particularly to Figs. 1 to 5, it will be understood that when the fan is to be used as a suction fan the inlet pipe or duct I is connected with a suitable pipe or duct leading into the mine shaft or room from which the foul air and gases are to be drawn. As the shaft 3 is rotated, the end plates 7 and. 8, as well as the intermediate plate 9 will be turned, and consequently the drums 17 and 18, with their stationary blades 19, and the pivoted vanes will also arms 28 will be shifted or moved outward and the pivoted vanes carried by the arms will be moved to closed position so that their adjacent longitudinal. edges almost 7 meet, thus forming practically continuous wings. proaching and passing the inlet I, so that the vanes in such position will pull ordraw the air and gases through the inlet I intothe fan-and carry such air and gases around toward the funicular discharge duct D. As the arms 28 approach the discharge duct, the rollers at the inner ends of the arm travel into the eccentric sections 38 of the grooves 31. and the arms are drawn inward, thus shifting the links 25 connected with the pintles of the vanes so that these vanes will be opened, that is to say, extended transversely to the arms so that the air and gases may pass through the spaces between the vanes when the latter are feathered, as just mentioned. and such air and gases will be pushed or forced by the vanes through the discharge duct D to the open air, instead. of a portion of the air and gases being carried around again by the blades of the fan, as is usually the case. As the arms again approach the inlet I after passing the out let duct, they are gradually moved outward again by the action of the rollers traveling in the cam grooves and the vanes are again moved to closed position Now, under certain conditions, instead of using the fan as a suction or exhaust fan it may be desired to quickly convert it into a pressure This occurs when the arms are ap-- fan, for instance to feed'air into the mine,

and under such circumstances it may be so converted by simply grasping the handle 36 and rotating the worm gear 34*to'tur'n the disks 32' until the positions of'the eccentric grooves-31' are reversed'to the position they occupy when the device is acting as a suction fan, that is tosay, the disks will be turned until the concentric sections -31 thereof are moved to the outlet side D of the fan and the eccentric sections 38face the duct I. Under such conditions when the fan isrotated, the air will be drawn in through the funicular duct D and discharged through the ductI.

In order to properly directnthe air passing through the duct I, I provide top and bottom deflector or baflle plates 40 and 41 hinged as at 42 and 43 respectively. The pintles 44 and 45 of the respective deflector plates extend through the wall of the pipe I, and are provided with weighted arms 46 and 47 respectively. Now, when the fan is used as a suction fan, the weighted arms 46 and 47 are manually shifted or turned so that the plate 40 will be brought against the top wall of the pipe I, while the plate 41 will be moved against the pin 48. Thus the air coming into the fan casing will be properly directed to the closed vanes and will not be pocketed at the entrance to the casing. When the fan, however, is used as a pressure fan, the weighted arms are swimg so that the deflector plates occupy the positions shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, that is to say, the plate 40 will rest upon the pin 49, while the plate 41 will lie back against the bottom wall section 14. Under such conditions the air may be forced unimpeded from the fan through the pipe I.

From the above description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it will be seen that I have provided a fan wherein the individual pivoted blades are feathered or turned at desired times to assist in forcing the air from the fan casing, so that no portion of the air will be carried around in the casing past the outlet through which it is supposed to be discharged. Furthermore, it will be noted that when desired the fan may be converted from a suction fan into a pressure fan or vice versa without the loss of time.

\Vhile I have herein shown and described one particular embodiment of my invention, I wish it to be understood that I do not confine myself to all the precise details of construction herein set forth by way of illustration, as modification and variation may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or exceeding the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a fan of the class described, the combination with a casing including rotating side walls, of a plurality of sets of piving sidewalls, of a plurality of sets of pivoted vanes mounted between the sidewalls and adapted to travel withthe said walls, an air inlet duct leading to the casing, an

air outlet duct leading from the casing, means operable to move the vanes on their pivots to close the sameas, they. pass the air inlet duct and to open said vanes as they pass the outlet duct, said means including a series of radially movable arms connected with the vanes, and eccentric devices for shifting said arms radially.

'3. In a fan of the class described, the combination with a casing including rotating side walls, of a partition wall located between the side walls, a plurality of sets of vanes pivoted at their outer ends in the side walls and at their inner ends in the partition wall, an inlet duct for the fan, an outlet duct for said fan, a radially movable arm for each set of vanes, a link connection between each vane and the adjacent radially movable arm, a laterally extending member at the inner end of each arm, and normally stationary members provided with eccentric grooves in which the lateral members at the ends of the arms are adapted to travel to move said arms radially to open and close the sets of vanes.

4. In a fan of the class described, the combination with a casing including rotating side walls, of an intermediate partition wall, sets of vanes pivotally mounted between the end walls and the partition walls, an inlet duct and an outlet duct for the fan, mechanism for moving the vanes on their pivots to close the vanes as they pass the inlet duct and open said vanes as they pass the outlet duct, drums disposed centrally of the fan between the end walls of the partition wall, and stationary blades carried by the drums.

5. In a fan of the class described, the combination with a casing including rotating side walls, an airinlet duct and an air outlet duct, a plurality of sets of pivoted vanes adapted to travel with the rotating side walls, means for opening and closing the vanes and mechanism for adjusting the position of the opening and closing means to vary. the points at which the vanes will open and close.

6. In a fan of the class described, the combination with a power shaft, of rotatof the shaft the arms will be moved radially to open and close the vanes, a toothed rack carried by the disk, and a gear meshing with the rack and adapted to be manually operated to change the position of the disk Copies of this patent may be obtained tor five cents each, by adflrcssing the Commissioner Washington, D. 0..

the vanes the current of air passing through said air;

duct.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature, in the presence of two witnesses.

THOMAS J NEVVCOME. Witnesses:

RICHARD B. GAVANAUGH. P. J, MAOCARTER.

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