US1230537A

US1230537A - Liquid-feed system.

Info

Publication number: US1230537A
Application number: US12447316A
Authority: US
Inventors: Charles L Stokes
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1916-10-09
Filing date: 1916-10-09
Publication date: 1917-06-19
Anticipated expiration: 1934-06-19

Description

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UQUID FEED SYSTEM. APPLICATION FILED 0019,1916.

Patentefi June 19, 1917 2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

C. L. STOKES uoum FEED SYSTEM.

APPLICATIO N FILED OCT-M1916 1,230,537. Patented J une 19, 1917 2'SHEETSSHEET 2.

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manic-F ED SYSTEM.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patgnted June 1%,19176 Application filed October 9, 1916. Serial No. 124,473.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES L, STOKES,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles,

State of California, have in\ entednew and useful Improvements in Liquid-Feed Sysii terns, o'f'whieh the following is a specifica- Ito systems for feeding liquid fuel for in tion. i i

This invention relates to systems for feed.

. their relations and connections; 1g. 2 is an enlarged detail section of the COHILQCtlOIl to ing or lifting liquids,,an d,- in its more par iicular. phase hereinafter described, relates teraal coinhustionengines of any type.

It isan object of this invention toprovide a .shnplified means for lifting liquid by the operation of suctionyand particularly-the operation of suct on from an' internal cornbusti'on-engine to lifthquid .fuel to a carbureter for the engine. It is an object of this invention to provide a form of means which frnay be readily combined with a carbureter;

that is, which may be constructed as a unit with the carburetor, with the object of simplii'ying the combined construction.

In my co-pending applications .8. Nos. 91,303 and120,069 filed April 15, 1916, and

Sept ltth; 19 16 ,'1 espectively, I'have erev I plained'and laid claims generally to mechanism for liftingliquidiuel from a low level tank to a high level service reservoir or to feed the carburetcr, embodying admission of air to the liquid lifting line and to the fuel lifting line.

In such liquid feed systems as herein de; scribed, the liquid (the fuel) is lifted by ,"suction to a reservoir thesuetion being applied intermittently andatmospherlc pressure being .admittedfto the surface of the liquid in the reservoir during the periods be .tween the applications of suction so that the liquid in the reservoir may feed by. gravity into the carbureter, the chamber of which is in communication with the atmosphere. It

.is an object of this invention to provide simplified means tor cutting of? the application of suction and for admitting atmosphcric pressure to the liquid in the reservmr; and it is also an ob ect,. i'n connection herewith, to provide suclr means in such shown indetail in Fig. 3..

'hole 27 may. be lowered form as to increase the lifting eiiiciency of the device.

Thev foregoing are among thGYObJGOlZS of this invention; but others will appear-from ,the following description of preferred forms.

of my invention and the illustrations there of in the accompanying drawings, in which; Figure l is a diagram showing the various opcratve parts ofiny system and showing the main vfuel tank; Fig, 3'is. an enlarged detail section showing the means of admitfed by the liquid from the tank; This tank has. the usual filling plug at 12 with an air inlet to apply atmospheric pressure to the liquid in the tank. The liftingpipe 13 connects with the bottom of the tank asshown.

The lifting pipe connects into a fitting 14 i which has a. liquid. passage 15 communicet-- mg with the tank, and has also an air nozzle 16 controlled by a needle valve 17 to admit air into liquid flowing from the tank into pipe 13. The air is drawn through the pipe 18, whose upper end is above the liquid level in tank 10. The amount of air admitted at nozzle 16 may be regulated or coinpletely shut oh by. 'alve 17 1 At a. pointintermediate in height between the tank 10f and the service reservoir 25, I connect anair pipe 26 with the pipe 13; the connectionheing through a very small In practice, for the amount of fuel lifted for an ordinary automobile, this drill hole 27 is of about the size of a. No. 60 drill. The stand pipe26 is solely for the purposeof preventing the escape of fuel in the event of going down a. steep grade or in other conditionswhere the below the level of the fuel in the tank 10.

The pipe 13 leads .to the top of the service.

reservoir 25 and discharges into thatreservoir through the cover-30 and through a.

drill 11019127, as

nipple or baffle 31 extending into the reservoir beneath the cover; this baflie being for the purpose'of preventing the mixed air and liquid being drawn immediately to the suction port 32 before the air and liquid can separate. The suction pipe 33 extends from the intake manifold 34 of the engine (at -(as compared with the weight of ordinary floats of this character) so that its weight is sufficient to pull the valve 36 down against the suction tending to keep it up, when the liquid level in reservoir 25 has fallen so that the liquid support of the float is partially withdrawn. From the lower part of reservoir 25 the liquid fuel passes out through pipe 40 to the carbnreter 11, passing the up Wardly closing valve 41. provided for the purpose of keeping the fuel in the carbureter from being sucked back into the reservoir 25 when suction is applied to the reser voir. The valve 41 may be placed at the carbureter and seated by gravity, as shown in Fig. 6.

I now explain the action of the system! said action being the same for both forms of system illustrated, with the exceptions hereinafter noted.

When the service reservoir is full of liquid the float 40 moves up to the position shown and moves the valve 36 to close suction port 32. The closure of this suction port prevents further application of suction to the reservoir. Gradual flow of liquid out of the reservoir to the carbureter lowers the liquid level in the reservoir and takes away the liquid support of float 40. When the liquid level has fallen to such an extent that the unsupported weightof the float is suflicient to overcome the suction tending to support valve 36, then the float will fall, carrying valve 36 with it and suction will be reapplied to the upper part of the reservoir. in an actual apparatus the arrangement is made such that the liquid level in the reservoir only falls through a small distance before the valve 36 is moved downwardly.

Suction being applied to'the reservoir, is of course, also applied to pipe 13. The liquid from tank IO normally stands up in pipe 13 to a height depending upon the amount of liquid in the tank; but the air port 27 is always highcn than the normal liquid level. Suction applied to pipe 13 will imnu-diatcly begin to draw air into the port 27: but the amount of air introduced through this port is insuiiicient to break the suction. I'he fuel therefore begins tori-so in pipe 13v and, after passing port 27, this fuel is intermingled with the air drawn through the port. The valve 17, at the lower end of pipe 13, may be regulated to also admit a restricted quantity of air, or v then drawn up through the p1pe'13 and over into the reservoir 25, where thelliquid and .air separate, the air being drawn into the engine manifold and the liquid settlin into the body of liquid in the reservoir. s the liquid level in the reservoir rises, the float 4O iimovedupwardly until the valve 36 is again seated. cutting off the application of suction. Immediately the application of suctionis cutoff, the column of mixed liquid and air in pipe 13 is arrested in motion and the liquid settles back through the pipe to its normal level. By this action the port 27 is again uncovered and communication with atmosphere is restored to the reservoir 25) through the

pics

13 and 26.

It will now e seen that the air port 27,

' located at a point'above the normal level of liquid, performs two functions; one to admit atmospheric pressure to the liquid in the service reservoir when suction is not being applied and when the atmospheric pressure is needed to allow the liquid in the service reservoir to flow out; and the other being to supply air to the rising column of liquid in pipe 13 to facilitate the upward movement of the column. So far as either function of port 27 is concerned. it 1s more or lessg immaterial whether air is admitted at thelower end of pipe 13; although the admission of some air at the lower end of the pipe facilitates somewhat the raising of the mixed column of air and liquid. The point, at which port 27 enters the communication depends more or less on the vertical distance through which the liquid is lifted. If the lift is short the port may he very close to the service reservoir; in fact it may be at the service reservoir itself.

With the arrangement as described. it will-be seen that the service reservoir is always open-restr1etedly open-to atmosphere, at all times, The atmospheric port need not at any ti 'The operation of the system shown in Figs. 5 and 6 is essentially the same as that.

just described. In these figures lshow the service reservoir 25* constructed in a unit with the carbureter 11. The service reservoir has the same float operating the valve 36 through the medium of the lever 37 connected at 39 with the float. The suction pipe 33 connects in the same manner as before described with the intake manifold 34 of the engine above the throttle valve 35"; The carbureter itself may be of any of the usual constructions; embodying, for instance, theliquid nozzle controlled oby needle valve '51 and located in the, air passage 52 which connects directly with the intake manifold.

of the engine. Liquid fuel is supplied to the nozzle 50 from the fuel chamber 53, which is in communication at 54 with atmosphere.

But this chamber has no float or valve as is ordinarily the case. A horizontal liquid pas-- sage 55 may connect the bottom of reservoir .25? vvith'the bottom of chamber 53;.and any suitable check valve, indicated at 56, may be placed in this communication to prevent back flow of liquid from chamber 53 tdreseruoir :25 when suction is applied to the reservoir. Whenevertheliquid level in reservoir 25 is higher than that in chamber 53, liquid w ill fl'ova from the, reservoir to the chamber to replenish the supply in the chamher. The maximum height of liquid in chamber 53 is level with "the maximum height in resenvoir 25 and this maximum height is controlled entirely by the ziction of float 40 and, valve 36; becausewhenever the valve. 36 is closed, itis impossible tointroduce liquid into the reservoir by the suctibn action.

i In this last egfplainedform of systein, it"

willbe seen that the float dQ iot only acts to maintain the level of, liquid in the'chamber 25 but also acts to maintain the level of liquid in chamber 53 and tolimit the rise of liquid in that chamber. Consequently, the" float 40' performs a double function in that it controls the application of suction to the servicereservoir and controlsthe lifting of liquid from tank 10' and the filling of the reservoir, and also controls the liquid level in the chamber 53 which directly and immeQ diately feeds the carburetor proper, particularly in case where the level ofthe carbureter may be below that of the fuelin tank 10. Having described a preferred form of my invention, I claim:

1. In a liquid feed system for an internal -,coihbust.ion engine, the combination'of a liquid tank, aliquid reservoir above said tank, communication between the tank and the reservoir, means for admitting atmos phere to said communication above the normal. liquid level therein and below the normal liquid level in the reservoir, means for applying suction to the upperpait ofthe v v and to draw therefrom volr, a 'communicationpipe leading from the fuel tank to the upper part of the. reservoir,

means to restrictedly introduce"atmosphere 4 to. the communication pipe at a point to en.- .telr the column" of liquidmoving-upwardly thereinmeans to apply suction to the upper part of the reservoir, a float and a valveoperated by the float to cut off suction from the reservoir when the liquid level. in the reservoir reaches a predetermined point.

3. In combination with a carburetor having a fuel chamber open to atmosphere, a

low level liquid fuel tank and a high level service reservoir feeding the carbureter chamber by gravity, communication between the'tank and reservoir, means to intermittently apply suction to the reservoir, and means to restrictedly admitatmos'phere to said communication atra point above the normal level of liquid therein and at apoint to enter thecolumn ofliquid movingupwardly therethrough. I

ing a fuel chamber open to atmosphere, a

low level liquid fuel, tank and a high level service a reservoir feeding the carbureter chamber by gravity, communication between the tank and reservoir, means to controllably-apply suction to the reservoir, and means to restrietedly admit atmosphere to said communication at a point above the normal level of liquid therein andat a'point 4. In combination with a carburetor hav to enter the column .of' liquid moving-upwardly therethrough;

5. In combination with a carbureter, a lowlevel liquid fuel tank,' a liquid fuel reser voir above the carbur'eter and imcommuni cation With it to supply it with fuel, com-1 municatidn, between the tank and the reser- .voir, means for restrictedly admitting atmosphere to said communication above the normal liquid level therein and at a point where the admitted atmosphere enters the upwardly moving column of liquid moving from the tank to the reservoir, and commu nication-means to intermittently apply to the upper part of the reservoir the same suction that is appliedto the carbureter to maintain a partial vacuum in the reservoir w the air which enters it with the fuel.

reservoir to discontinue the.

6. Incombination with a carbureter, alow level liquid fuel tank, a liquid fuel reservoir above the carbureter and in communication with it to supply it with fuel, communication between the tank and the. reservoir, means for restrictedly admitting atmosphere to said comnuinication above the normal liquid level therein and it a point where the admitted atmosphere enters the lip- 7. In combination with a carburetor having a li uid fuel chamber open to atmosphere. a

'bureter chamber by gravity, communication between the tank and reservoir. means to restrictedly admit atmosphere to said commu nieation at a point above thenormal liquid level therein and below the normal liquid level'in the reservoir, and llltlllS to intermittently apply to the upper part of the reservoir thesame suction that is applied to the carbureter to maintain apartial vacuum in the reservoir to draw therefrom the air which enters the reservoir with the liquid iuel.

S. In combination with a carburetor having a liquid fuel chamber open toatmospherc. a low level liquid'fuel tank and a high level service reservoir feeding the carburetcr chamber by gravity, communication between the tank and reservoir, means to restrictedly admit atmosphere to said communication at a point above the normal liquid level in the reservoir, means to apply to the upper part of the reservoir the same suction that applied to the carburetor to maintain low level liquid fuel tank and a high level service reservoir feeding the cara partial vacuum in the reservoir and to draw therefrom the air which enters the rese'rvoir with the liquid fuel, and valve means controlled by the level of liquid in the reservoir to discontinue the application of suction thereto,

9. In combination with a carbureter having a liquid fuel chamber open to atmosphere, a low level liquid fuel tank and a high level service reservoir feeding the carbureter chamber by gravity, communication between the tank and reservoir, means to restrictedly admit atmosphere to said comn'lunication at a point above the normal liquid level there in and below the normal liquid leveltin the ,reservoir. means to apply suction to the upper part of the reservoir. and valve means co'ntrolliim the. application of such suction embodying a valve and float means to close the valve when the liquid reaches a predetermined high level and to open the valve when the liquid reaches a predetermim-d low level. said levels being separated by a predetermined distance.

10. In a liquid feed system for an internal combustion engine. the combination of a liquid tank, a liquid reservoir above. said tank, communication between the. tank and, the

reservoir, means for admitting atmosphere to said communication above the normal liquid level therein andbelow the normal liquid level in the reservoir. said means including an air supply passage extending upward and connnunicating with the atmosphere at a point above the maximum level of the liquid in said reservoir, means or applying suction to the upper part of the rcservoir, said means carrying the admitted atmosphere to mix with the carbureted charge of the engine, and float-actuated valve means for cutting oli' suction to the reservoir.

In witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my name this 30th day of September, 1916.

CHARLES L. STOKES.