US1407807A - Supervisory mechanism - Google Patents

Description

C. E. RENSHAW AND E. C; HEALY.

SUPERVISORY MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 23, I918.

Patented Feb. 28, 1922.

2 SHEETSSHEET I.

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SUPERVISORY MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 23, 1918.

1 ,407,807 Patented Feb. 28, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

CHARLES E. RENSHAW AND ELLIS C. HEALY, OF EAST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY,

ASSIG-NORS TO NEWMAN CLOCK COMPANY, INC, OF NEW' YORK, N. Y., A COR- LPORATION OF NEW YORK.

SUPERVISOR/Y MECHANISM.

Application filed April 23, 1918.

To all whom it may com-cm:

Be it known that we, CHARLES E. REN- srniw and ELLIs C. HEALY, both citizens of the United States, residing at East Orange, county of Essex, and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Supervisory Mechanism, of which the :t'ollowing is a full, clear, and exact description.

Valves for controlling the flow of fluids are in such common use that they form a component part of practically every mechanical equipment in general use. Under certain conditions it is essential that they should remain. open or remain closed at all times except for making repairs, extensions or for other recognized purposes; and it is a well recognized fact that loss of life and great damage has resulted through oversight or design in permitting valves to remain closed whentheir normal position should be open, and vice versa.

The invention which constitutes the subject matter of this application relates to supervisory mechanism, specifically de scribed in connection with sprinkler systems.

The use of automatic sprinkler systems is coming more and more into vogue, but. like all other systems of water distribution the valves at times must necessarily be closed temporarily in order to effect repairs, to prevent freezing, and for many other purposes. There has been and is a tendency on the part of workmen to leave one or more of the valves closed, thereby putting a part or the whole of the system completely out ot co1n mission. with a result of considerable losses in cases of fire.

Our invention therefore has to do with mechanism adapted to be connected to a valve for controlling the access to a recordke located adjacent thereto. That is to say w. on the valve is open, as it normally should be, access may be had. to the key, but if the valve is closed the key is not available. As each one of these valves (or stations) is equipped with a key a time-print may be made on a record dial of a watchmans clock which would indicate the time at which the station was visited. So long as these imprints are made at the required intervals,

as shown by the record dial, it is a sure indication that the valves at these particular times were opened. But it the imprint Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 28, 1922.

Serial No. 230,279.

oi a certain station were omitted from the record dial it would be an equally sure indication that the key at that station was inaccessible and therefore the valve was closed assuming that the watchman visited that particular station. Of course, it it is a part of the watchman s duty to open the valve he could then make the imprint. In any event the device will have served its purpose.

Further objects and advantages will appear from the detailed description below taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which- Fig. l is a side view of a valve illustratin the invention in longitudinal section applied thereto.

F 2 is a longitudinal section similar to the sectioned port-ions of Figure 1 illustrating the parts in diiierent relative positions.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectiontaken on line 3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 illustrates a detail.

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section of a slightly modified form of my invention.

Fig. 6 is a top plan view of the device illustrated in Fig.

Referring to the drawing in detail, the refercnce numeral 10 designates the water sup ply to the sprinkler coming from any suitable pipe (not shown). Located in this supply is a valve 11 provided with a yoke 12, a threaded sleeve 13 rotatably mounted in the yoke, a valve stem let screw-threaded to the sleeve, and a manipulating handle 15 fixed to the sleeve 18 and adapted to rotate the same in order to impart a longitudinal movement to the valve-stem 14.- andthe gate valve (not shown) attached thereto. i

Rigidly secured to the manipulating wheel 15, as by bolts 10 and nuts 17, and surrounding the valve stem ii, is a cylindrical. canister 18 the upper end 01"" which is open but cut away slightly as indicated at 19. Rigidly secured to the upper end of the valve stem let is a receptacle 20 provided with a door 21, the construction of the receptacle being such that it fits the interior of the canister rather snugly. The construction is also such that when the stem is in its uppermost position the door 21 may be opened as clearly indicated in Figure 1, the door at this time being located adjacent to the cut-away portion 19. But it will be obvious, when the wheel 15 is rotated in the direction to close the valve, that the receptacle 21 will move downwardly thereby causing the door 2-1 to engage the upper edge of the canister 18 and be closed thereby. The amount of turning required to close the door when the valve is fully opened will oi course depend upon the relative position of the canister 18 and receptacle 20 and upon the degree of inclination of the cutaway portion 19. The arrangement is preferably such that this is accomplished before the wheel 15 has made more than two or three complete rotations.

The receptacle 20 is reinovably and adjustably secured to the stem 11- by means of a hollow split stud 22 engaging a socket 253 in the upper end of the valve stem. Any suitable means may be employed for maintaining a rigid relationship between the stud 22 and stem is, but we preferably employ a screw 2st provided with an inclined surface on its lower end adapted to engage the beveled interior surface of the stud.

To the bottom of the receptacle 20 is secured one end of a key chain the other end of which is provided with what is known as a watchmans key 26. The key chain is of sufiicient length to allow the key to be normally suspended at a distance sufficient to enable the watchman to make his record. Of course the watchman is supposed to keep the key within the receptacle 20 with the door 21 closed so that a predetermined closing movement of the valve stem 14 will result in locking the door 21 in its closed position. However, should the watchmen negligently omit to put the key in the box or it for any other reason a closing movement is imparted to the valve stem by one who carelessly omits to put the key in the receptacle 2O beforehand, nevertheless the key chain will not only be drawn inwardly by the closing of the door but will be clamped between the door and receptacle thus putting the same out of condition for use in making a record.

In Figs. 5 and 6 we illustrate a construction in which the receptacle 20 is swivelled to the valve stem 14: and in which the canister 18 is provided with a longitudinal head 27 engaging with a groove 28 in the receptacle. This not only enables a longitudinal movement of the receptacle 20 with respect to the canister but also a rotary movement therewith.

To the canister there may also be pivoted a gravityor spring pressed signal arm 29 normally lying concealed between the mem bers 30. This signal 29 is provider with an extension 31 normally located in the path of the receptacle 20, the construction being such that when the receptacle moves downwardly into the canister it will engage with the extension and operate the signal. It will be understood that it the valve stem l l projects upwardly the specific type of signal illustrated will obviously operate by gravity. In any other arrangement of the valve stem it would be advisable to have the signal returned to normal position by positive means.

From the foregoing it will be seen that we have provided a simple mechanism to prevent the watchman from making a record while visiting any particular station, pro viding the valve is not in normal position. In operation the supervisor visits each valve equipped with my invention and if the valve is found to be closed or open as the particular system requires, it is then possible for him to obtain the key in order to make a registration upon his watchmans clock, which is indisputable evidence that the valve was at that time and place in normal position. It, however the supervisor should be unable to obtain the key he would then know that the valve is not in its normal position, and he would thus be unable to effect the registration until the valve had been restored to normal position. And it the dial on the watchmans clock does not show a registration covering all the valves which he is required to supervise it could be readily determined which valve or valves he had found not to be in normal position.

The constructions illustrated and described are merely the preferred embodiments of our invention and it is to be understood that we do not limit ourselves thcret as it is obvious not only that many changes may be made in point of detail but that other embodiments may be resorted to without departing from the true spirit and scope of our invention as defined in the following claims.

lV hat we claim is:

1. The combination with a valve provided with a stem of a manipulating handle or wheel for in'iparting a longitudinal movement to said stem, a key receptacle carried by and movable with said stem and provided with a door, and means carried by said wheel adapted to close said door when the valve is moved from its normal position.

2. The combination with a valve provided with an operating member and member operated thereby, a key receptacle carried by one of said members and provided with a door through which a key is inserted and removed from the receptacle, and means carried by the other member adapted to close said door when the valve is moved from its normal position.

3. The combination with a valve provided with an operating member and a member operated thereby, of a normally operative record producing means carried by one of said members, and means carried by the other member for rendering said record producing means inruperative when the valve is moved from its normal position.

4. The combination with a valve provided with an operating member and a member operated thereby, of a key receptacle carried by one of said members and provided with a door normally operative to provide access to said receptacle, and means carried by the other member to render said door inoperative to preventaccess to the receptacle when the valve is moved from its normal position.

5. The con'ibination with a valve provided with an operating member and a member operated thereby, of a key receptacle carried by one of said members and provided with a door normally operative to provide access to the interior thereof, and means carried by the other member telescoping over said receptacle and having a relative movement with respect thereto when the valve is moved from its normal position to render said. doorinoperative to prevent access to the interior of the receptacle.

(3. T he combination with a valve provided with an operating member and member operated thereby, of a receptacle fixed to and carried by one oi? said members and provided with a door normally operative to provide access to the interior thereof, and actuating means carried by the other memher, said receptacle and actuating means have relative rotatable and longitudinal movements with respect to each other to render said door inoperative to prevent access to the interior of said receptacle.

7. The combination with a valve provided with an operating member and a member operated thereby, of a key receptacle swivelled to and carried by one of said members and provided with a door normally operative to provide access to the interior thereof, and actuating means carried by the other member provided with means thereon cooperating with means on the receptacle to prevent relative rotation, but enabling a relative longitudinal movement with respect to each other to render said door inoperative to prevent access to the interior of said receptacle.

8.. The combination with a valve provided with an oaerativc member and a member operated thereby, oil? a key mechanism carried by one of said members, means carried by the other member for rendering said ltcy mechanism inoperative when the valve is moved from its normal position, and a signal means carried by one of said members and adapted to be actuated. by the other.

9. The combination with a valve provided with an operating member and a member operated thereby, of a key mechanism carried by one of said members, and means carried by the other member for rendering said key mechanism inoperative when the valve is moved from its normal position.

10. In combination, a valve having a longitudinally movable stem, an operating member therefor, a normally operable record-producing means, and means comprising an elcn'ient connected to the end of said stem for preventing manual operation or" said first named means when said valve is in abnormal condition.

ll. The con'ibination with a valve provided with an operating member and a valve stem operated thereby, ot' a normally operative recordproducing means, and means attached to and actuated by longitudinal movement 0t said stem "from its normal position for preventing the operation of said record-producing means while the valve is not in normal position.

1 The combination with a valve provided with an operating member and a valve stem operated thereby but relatively mo'v able thereto, of a manually operable in.- dicatioil-producing means, and means attached to and actuated by movement of said stem from its normal position for preventing the operation of said indicationproducing means while the valve is not in normal position.

13. The combination with a valve pro vided with an operating member and a valve stem operated thereby, of a normally operative record producing means, and means actuated by the movement of said stem from it normal position for preventing operation of said record producing means while the valve is not in normal position, said means comprising a part attached to the end of. the valve stem and movable longitudinally therewith.

lsl. The combination with a valve provided with a valve stem, a member relatively movable with respect to said stem for operating the latter, manually operable indication-producing means, and means actuated by relative movement between said stem. and member for preventing operation of said indication producing means when said valve is in abnormal condition.

17 In combination, a valve, manually operable indication-producing means, means comprising a closure for controlling access to said first mentioned means, and means for automatically operating said closure to closed position, when said valve moved to abnormal condition 18. In combination, a valve, manually operable indication producing means, means comprising a door for controlling access to said first mentioned means, and means actuated by closure or said valve for closing said door,

17. In combination, a valve having a stem, a member relatively movable with respect to said stem for operating the same, manually operable indication -producing means, and means comprising an element swivelly connected to said stem for preventing manual operation said indicationproducing means when said valve is in al normal condition.

18. In combination, a valve having a stem, manually operable indication-prodncing means, and means comprisnig an element connected to the end of said stem by an expansion bolt for preventing manual operation of said indication-producing means when said valve is in abnormal condition.

19. In combination, a valve having a stem, a manually operable recorder, recorder control means, and means attached to said stem for imparting to said control means motion of the same character the motion of said stem.

20. In combination, a valve, a manually operable indication-producing means, a container for said means, a closure 'lor said container, and means connecting said valve and closure for operating the latter to closed position when the va ve is moved from normal position.

21. In combination, a valve, an indicating means, a manually operable tool adapted to be engaged with said means to produce an indication, a barrier movable into and out of a position between said means and tool, and means controlled by mmrement of said valve for automatically moving said barrier.

22. A supervisory system for sprinkler valves comprising in combination, a valve, means for operating said valve, means for indicating the condition of said valve, :1

watchmans key, and means for controlling said indicating means and for controlling record-producing use of said key by actuation of said valve-operating means.

23. In combination; a valve, means inannally operable to produce an indication, a closure which when in one position permits manual operation of said means and when in another position prevents manual operation of said means, and means connected to a movable part of said valve for actuating said closure on a predetern'iined movement. of said valve part and for locking said closure against opening movement on a further movement of said part.

In testimony whereof we allin our signatures.

CHARLES E. RENSHAW'. ELLIS C. HEALY.

. Certificate of Correction.

It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent N 0. 1,407,807, granted February 28, 1922, upon the application of Charles E. RenshaW and Ellis C. Healy, of East Orange, New Jersey, for an improvement in Supervisory Mechanism, an error appears in the printed specification requiring correction as follows: Page 3, line 50, claim 8, for the Word operative read operating; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Oflice.

Signed and sealed this 28th day of March, A. D., 1922.

[sEAL.] KARL FENNING,

Acting Commissioner of Patents.

Certificate of Correction.

It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent N 0. 1,407,807, granted February 28, 1922, upon the application of Charles E. Renshaw and Ellis C. Healy, of East Orange, New Jersey, for an improvement in Supervisory Mechanism, an error appears in the printed specification requiring correction as follows: Page 3, line 50,

claim 8, for the Word operative read operating; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Ofiice.

Signed and sealed this 28th day of March, A. D., 1922.

[SEAL] KARL FENNING,

Acting Commissioner of Patents.

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