US1576386A - Full receptacle - Google Patents

Description

March 9 9 3926. v

H. H. WEE-CH FUEL KECEPTAGLE Filed ma 24, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 March 9,1926. 1,576,386-

H. H. WELCH FUEL RECEPTACLE Filed y 24, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ww/ ua @212 Patented Mar. 9, 1926 STAT ES GFFWE.

JEWEL RECEPT AGDE.

a ueannnniea Maya l, 1922. sensin 563,182.

To all whom itmay-coqwcrm'; p

Be vit known that 1, Homes H.. Tuner-I, a citizen of the United States, and .resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain .neW and useful Improvements in Fuel Receptacles, oi' whiehithe followijng isva rfull, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification. My invention relates to devices for feeding :fuel to the carburetor of an internal combustion engine, and particularly .to the class of aopara'tus popularly lCnOWIHLtS vacuumtanks. 'Such-avacuum tank asmow used comprises a FLQSBLVOll set at a level above the float chamber the carburetor to "be supplied therefrom, this reservoir being divided into upper and lowercompartments, the fuel being drawn by the suction de veloped in the manifold o'tt the internal con bastion engine from a low level mainstor; age tank into ,the upper compartment of the reservoir. The fuel passes i'rom the up- ;per compartment of the reservoir into the lower compartn'lent, from which it sup- ,plie'd by ;.g1'av'it y to the float chamber oi the carburetor. r I l 7 Such vacuum tanks as heretofore made comprise a float nnechanism in the upper compartment of the reservoir for the purpose of eontrollinga valve or valves whereby the upper compartment of the reservoir is alternately subjected to the suction of the engine manifold and to atmospheric pressure During the suction interval, fuel is elevated into the upper compartment, whereupon the float is raised to a point at which itcausesthe closure-of a a alve controlling" the suction connection, and at which )0i11t ,-O1 at about which point, another valve is opened to {admit atn'iosphcric pressure into the uppercompartment, During the period of atmospheric pressure in lithe upper compartment, the fuel {flows through c a valve mechanism of one kind or another into the lower compartment of the reservoir ftrom which, as previously stated, the fuel ma y iioiv bygravity to theearburetor.

Ii -these vacuum tanks of the priorart, it hasbeen most common to provide one or the other of two types of V-fllJVGJfihl'OllQ'h which the duel may flow from the upper compartment "to the lower compartment. One type of valve as illustrated in-Jay Reissue Patent, No. 14535 3Jof I'September 111, 11917, is normally closed. Another type as illustrated in r einberg Patenu'No.11,229,350 otJune 12, 19 17,, is normally open. v

'ectionabile The normally open valve 'is ob for the reason that the suction in the upper compartment may ibe insufficient to dravv it to its seat to :close it when it should f he closed, as during the suction interval in the upper compartment. "This objection .is particularly .pronounced'iif, ,for various reasons, the fuel has been so ffar drained from the lower compartment ot the reservoir as to bring the level of the iue'l below the bottom of ithe valve ,in questiom because in such case it is only the tendency of air (not liquid fuel") to Efiow from the 'lowerncompartment into the upper compartment -ivhich must be :relied upon 'to eilieot the closure of the valve lbetiveen'ithese compartments.

The quantity and velocity of. the air which can thus be drawn from the lower compartment marina thenpper compartment is limited by the ,practicalInecessity ofdimit ling thesize'off the passageway or the valve opening through whichfithe :manifold Suction of the engine maybe communicated to 1 the, upper compartment not the reservoir. The normally" closed type oli valwe is ob- .ject-ionable for the reason thatfiti1ihtnient- :ly restricts the effective size ,of 'the opening 'cbetweenWth-e' upper compartment and the {lower compartment at the time When liquid fuel must flow fromt'he upper compartment to thelower. It is only theslig htihead of liquid in the' upper compartment which causes the valve to '"open, and which holds it open during ithis period of flow 'to .the extent that the valve is [given sufficient wveig ht or inclination ,-to hold it normal- 1y to its seat. .It opposes the slight 'h'ead o'i't rua which tends to open it and, {therefora-minimizes the rate at which 'fuelmay flow frolnthe upper compartment to lthe lower. It is desirable that 'the;permissib1e late of How be high in order to increase the general fuel feeding capacity or the {dewice under such critical conditionsas ijvould be encountered When the engine is pulling a more or less heavy load under Wide o en throttle, in which case the demand offithc engine IfQr iIul i-s great, Whereas the degree of suction in the engine manifold is low.

It is one of the primary objects or my invention to provide an improved Valve and valve mechanism for controlling the communication between the upper and lower compartments of the reservoir. In accordance with my invention, I provide at this in the upper compartment of the reservoir.

This balanced valve is not dependent for its operation either upon the head of fuel in the upper compartment or upon the tendency of either fuel or air to flow back from the lower compartment into the upper compartment during the suction interval in the upper compartment. This balanced valve may be given a size such that it will provide any desired opening to accommodate the flow offuel from the upper compartment to the lower, there being nothing inherentin the valve or its mode of'opera- 'tion tending to limit or restrict the rate of fuel flow. This balanced valve, furthermore, is closed by the float mechanism preliminary to the application of suction in the upper compartment, and the suction in this compartment has no tendency either to. open or close the valve, but since the valve is at this time closed entirely independently of the suction in the upper compartment, and of any tendency either of air or fuel to be drawn from the lower compartment into the upper compartment, any dificulties due to the uncertainty of seating a normally open valve are obviated.

It is a further object of my invention to simplify and improve I the float actuated valve mechanism for controlling the connection of the upper compartment of the reservoir alternately with a source of suction and with the atmosphere. While the firsto'f the aforesaid features of my invention may be'combined with the improved suction" and atmospheric valve mechanism which constitutes the second of the aforesaid features, the first feature may be combined with suction and atmospheric valve mechanism of types now well known and old in the art.

The details ofmy invention will be best understood by reference tofthe accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a side elevation partially in vertical central section of one'embodiment of my invention Figures 2 and 3 are transverse sections taken on lines 22- and 33 of Figure 1, respectively, p H

Figure 4 is a sectional detail showing another embodiment of balanced valve adapted to form a part of my improved carburetor, and,

Figure 5 is a. view similar to Figure 1, showing a still further modified form of my invention.

Throughout the several views, similar reference characters will be used for referring to similar parts, and the sections are taken looking in the direction of the small arrows.

Referring for the present to Figures 1 to 3 inclusive, my invention comprises a tank 10, preferably cylindrical in form, and having two end closures 11 and 12 respectively. The tank is divided intoupper and lower compartments by the partition 13.

The closure 12 is provided with athreaded aperture into which is inserted the plug 14, in which is formed the suction port 15, and

the air inlet port 16. The pipe 17 has one end secured to the plug-14, and is in communication with the suction port 15. The other end of the pipe can be connected with any suitable source of suction, such as the intake manifold of an internal combustion engine. Avalve 18 having a valve stem 19 is adapted to close the suction; port 15, and a second valve 20 carried by the valve stem 21 is adapted to close the air inlet port 16.

For the purpose of properly operating the two valves just described, I provide the valve operating lever 22, which is channel shaped in cross section with the flanges directed downwardly, and the'outer end of which is pivoted at 23,130 a bracket 24, which is secured to and depends from the inturned flange 25 of the upper end of the tank. In the position of lever 22, illustrated in Figure 1, the lower end of the valve stem 21 rests upon the web 26 of the lever 22, and the valve 20 is held in its open position. The valve stem 19 in the valve 18 projects through an opening 27 formed in the web of the lever 22, and is provided with the upper and lower stops 28 and 29, respectively, the upper one of which is shown as being engaged by the web 26 and thus held in closed position.

Afloat rod 30 is suspended from the inner end of the lever 22, Ma position substantially co-incident with the axis of the tank 10, and is held against movement relatively to the lever 22 by the two stops 31 and 32 respectively, which are secured to the rod 30 and positioned upon opposite sides of the web 26 through which the upper end of the rod 30 projects. A hollow metallic float 33 isslidably mounted upon the float rod 30. Its upper limit of movement relative to the rod 30 is determined by the stop 34, and its lower limit by the :stop 35. A leaf spring 36 has its inner end connected with the lever by the pin 37 which extends between the two flanges of the lever. The outer end of the spring 36 is supported by a bracket 38, which is secured to the inturned flange 25 by means of a screw 39, and which projects downwardly into the tank 10. This bracket carries the pin 40 around which the outer end of the spring 36 is curved to make a pivotal connection.

The length of the spring 36 is such that as the inner end of the lever in its downward movement approaches the line connecting the pins 23 and 40, the spring 36 is bowed upwardly and placed under tension so that immediately upon the pin 37 passing below the center line joining the pins 23 and 40, spring 36 will expand and quickly snap the lever 22 downwardly in a manner which will be described more fully later on.

For the purpose of controlling the passage of fuel'from the upper chamber or con'1 partment of the tank to thelower, I provide the partition 13 with a central aperture in which is secured by solder or otherwise the threaded collar 41, The plug 42 is threaded into the collar 41, and projects downwardly into the lower compartment of the tank 10. This plug is provided with two bores, 43 and 44, for establishing communication between the upper and lower compartments of the tank 10. The upper end of the bore 43 forms a seat for the valve disk 45, which is carried by the valve. rod 46, and the upturned end 47 of the bore 44 provides a seat for the valve disk 48, likewise carried by the valve rod 46. The valve rod 46 is slidably mounted in spaced bearings 49 forming a. part of the plug 42. For the purpose of holding the two valves and 48 in either their upper or closed positions, I provide a friction plug 50, which is posi tioncd between the two spaced bearings 49 and yieldingly held in contact with the valve rod 46 by means of the leaf spring 51, the lower end of which is secured to the lug projecting from the lower end of the plug 42 by means of a screw 53.

The areas of the two valve disks 45 and 48- can be adjusted, if desired, so as to compcnsate for the weight of the moving parts; of the balanced valve, as just described, and. also to compensate for the difference in height of the two columns of liquid bearing upon the valve disk 45 and the valve disk 43 res iiectively. V

ll or the purpose of operating the balanced valve structure just described, I provide the loop the lower end of which is secured to the'uppcr end of the valve rod 46, and the upper end of which is provided with an aperture through which the lower end Of the float rod 30 projects and is slidable. The lower end ofthe valve rod 30 is provided with a stop for engaging the upper end of the loop 54.

Having thus described the construction of my invention, I shall now describe its mode of operation. iVith the parts in the position indicated in Figure 1, the valve 18 has been closed, thus shutting off the suction from the upper compartment of the tank, and the valve 20 has been opened to permit the cccss of air above the fuel in the upper compartment. The balanced valve has also been opened, as shown, and the fuel is free 'upon the float to pass into the lower compartment. As the fuel passes in the lower compartment, the level of the fuel in the upper compartment drops, and the float 33 moves downwardly upon the rod 30 until it engages the stop 35. It thereupon continues to move downwardly carrying the float rod 30 with it until the pin 37 moves past the center line connecting the pivot pins 23 and 40, whereupon the spring 36, which has been com pressed by the downward movement of the lever 22, expands and snaps the lever 22 downwardly. This movement of the lever 22 is communicated to the rod 30, and from thence to the "loop 54, and the balanced valve, through the stop 35, thus causing the balanced valve to be snapped shut and held shut by the tension of the spring 36 and the weight of its associated parts. It is also held in its closed position by the friction block 50. It will, of course, be understood that during the initial downward movement of the float rod 30, the balanced valve is held open by the friction block 50.

As the lever 22 moves downwardly, its web will engage the lower stop 29 of the valve stem 19,' and open the valve 18, thereby establishing communication between the source of suction and the upper compartment. Prior to this, the valve 20 has been closed by the downward movement of the lever 22. The opening of the valve 18 takes place at substantially the same time that the lever 22- snaps downwardly under the .influence of spring 36 and closes the balanced. valve. The pressure in the upper compartinent of the tank 10 is then reduced and the fuel flows thereinto through the fuel pipe 56, the fuel being deflected by means of the deflecto' 57 so that it will not fall directly The fuel continues to flow into the upper compartment of the tank 10 until it has reached a point at which the upper side'of the float 33 reeeingagesthe stop 34 and lifts the valve rod 30, and the lever 22, to a position such that the pin 37 moves past the center line between the pins 23 and 40, whereupon the spring 36 which has been compressed by the upward [movement of the lever expands and snaps the lever 22 upward y, closing the valve 18 and opening the valve 20, whereupon the cycle of operations described above isrepeated. It will, of course, be understood that the fuel supply to the lower compartment of the tank 10 is discharged through the pipe 58.

I prefer to provide the lower co1npartment of my other tank with the usual vent pipe 59.

In Figure 4, I have illustrated a modified form of balanced valve in which 13 indicatcs the partition between the upper and lower compartments of a tank, between which coi'mnunication is established by means of the tube 60, the upper end of which.

is secured to a sleeve 61 threaded into the collar 41. A valve disk 62 is pivotally mounted by the walls of the tube 60 by means of a pin 63, which preferably 00-- incides with a diameterof the disk so that the pressure of the fuel in the tube 60 above the valve is evenly distributed upon opposite sides of the pin 63. A friction block 50 projects from the lower side of the valve disk 22, and is engaged by one end of a spring 51 which is secured to the lower end of the tube 60 by means of a rivet 53'. Preferably, a small. notch or depression 64. is formed in the edge of the block 50' for co-acting with the bead 65 formed 011 the free end of the spring 51 to hold the valve 62 in its closed position.

A lug 66 projects upwardly from the valve disk 22 and is provided with an aperture for receiving the lower end of the flexible rod 67, the lower end of this rod be ing bent at an angle to Ms remaining portion for the purpose of engaging the aperture in the lug 66. At its upperend, the rod 67 is guided by a suitably apertured spider 68, which is secured to the upper end of the sleeve 61 by screws 69. The upper end of the rod 67 is connected with the loop 54 and the remaining portions of the tank can be constructed in accordance with the disclosure in Figures 1 to 3inclusive.

From an inspection of the valve construction just described, it will be seenthat the weight of one-half of the column of fuel in the tube 60 above the valve 62 will tend to hold this valve closed, while the weight of the other half of this column of fuel will tend to force the valve vopen, so that this of the balanced and lower compartments by means of the tube 60, the upper end of which is threaded into the collar 11, and the lower endof which is closed as shown at 60". The side walls of the tube 60 at points adjacent its upper end are provided with apertures 70 with which the apertures 71 in the sleeve valve 72 can be brought into communication. In this embodiment of my invention, the lower end of the float rod 30 is provided with the two spaced pin stops 73 and 74, which are respectively adapted to engage the lower and upper ends of the sleeve valve 72. The distance between the two stops 73 and 7 1 is greater than the length of the sleeve valve 72, so that a lost motion connection is provided between the float rod 30 and the sleeve valve. A spiral spring 73 is housed in an annular recess 76 formed in the exterior surface of the sleeve valve 72 and by its frictional engagement with the .inner surface of the tube 60' provides means for 8 or its closed position.

- V In this embodiment of my invention, I have illustrated a well-known form of valve operating mechanism for controlling the suction valve 18 and the air inlet valve 20 comprising the two levers 80 and 81 which are pivotally and slidably mounted upon the pivot pins 82 and 83 respectively, which are carried by the lugs 84 and 85, respectively, projecting downwardly from the closure 12. The inner ends of the levers S0 and 81 are provided with eyes for receiving the pivot pin 86 which also projects through the upper end of the float rod 30. The outer end of the lever 80 is provided with a rearwardly projecting lug 87 and a forwardly projecting lug 88, and the outer end of the lever 81 is vprovided with a rearwardly projecting lug 89 and a forwardly projecting lug 90. The rearwardly projecting lug 87 ofthe lever 80 and the rearwardly projecting lug 89 of the lever 81 are connected by a tension spring 91, and a similar spring (not shown) connects the forwardly projecting lugs 88 and 90 of the levers 80 and 81 respectively.

The valve stem 19 of the suction valve 18 projects through the lever 80, and is provided with the spaced stops or abutments 28 and 29, and the valve stem 21 of the air intake valve 20 projects downwardly through an opening in the lever 81, and is provided with stops 21 and 21", which are adapted to be engaged by the lever 81. The float 33 is similar to that shown in Figure 1, andits upper'and lower sides are adapted to engage the, stops 3st and '35 respectively, carried by the float rod 30, just as in Figure 11 Fromthe above description, it will be clear that when the float 33 moves clownwardly it will engage the stop 35 and carry the float rod 30 with'it until the pin 86 is urged past the center line connecting the pins 82 and 83, when the spring 91 will cause the float rod 30 to be snapped downwardly, thus moving the sleeve valve 72 to its closed position, and at the same time opening the valve 18' and closing the valve 20, whereupon the upper chamber is exhausted and fuel will be drawn into this compartment through the fuel intake pipe 56, which in this modified form of my inven tion discharges into the vacuum chamber through the screen 92.

hen the fuel in the upper compartment has reached a predetermined level, the upper side of the float 33 will contact with the stop 34, and lift it until the pin 86 is moved to the upper side of the line joining the pins 82 and 83, when the springs 91 will again awegeae the sleeve valve it will be noted that it is a balanced valve, except for its weight, and except for the fact that the columns of fuel pressing down upon its upper and lower ends respectively are of slightly different length, but these factors a'renegligible.

\Vhile I have described the details of construction of the preferred embodiments of my invention, it is tobe clearly understood that my invention is not limited to these details of constructiombut is capable of other modifications and adaptations within the scope of the appended claims.

*laving thus described my invention, what I claim is:

'1. A fuel receptacle comprising a tank, a partition dividing said tank into upper and lower compartments, a vent pipe communicating with said lower compartment, said lower compartment having a discharge outlet, an end closure for said upper compart ment provided with suction and air ports, a float in said upper compartment, valves actuated by said float for alternately opening and closing said ports, a balanced valve for controlling the passage of fuel from said upper compartment to said lower compartment, a lost motion connection between said float and said valve for alternately opening and closing said valve, and friction means for holding said valve in either its open or closed position.

2. A fuel receptacle comprising a tank, a partition dividing said tank into upper and lower compartments, said lower compart ment having a discharge outlet, an end closure for said upper compartment pro-' vided with suction and air ports, a float in said upper compartment, valves actuated by said float for alternately opening and closing said ports, a balanced valve for controlling the passage of fuel from said upper compartment to said lower compartment, a lost motion connection between said float and said valve for alternately opening and closing said valve, and means for holding said valve in either its open or closed position.

S. A fuel receptacle comprising a tank, a partition dividing said tank into upper and lower compartments, said lower compartment having a discharge outlet, said upper compartment being provided with suction and air ports, a float in said upper compartment, valves actuated by said float for alternately opening and closing said ports, a balanced valve for controlling the passage of fuel from said upper compartment to said lower compartment, a connection between said float and said valve for alternately opening and closing said valve, and means for holding said valve in either its open or closed position.

4. A fuel receptacle comprising a tank, a partition dividing said tank into upper and lower compartments, aid lower compartment li-aving a discharge outlet, said upper compartment being provided with suction and air ports, a float in" said upper compart-' ment", valves actuated bysaid float for alternately opening andclosing said ports, a balan ced val-vefor controllingthe passage of fuel from said upper compartment to said lower compartment, and a connection be= tweensaid float and saidvalve for alternate- 1y opening and closing said valvei 5. A fuel receptacle" comprising a tank, a partition dividing said tank into two compartments, one constantly under atmospheric pressure, and the other subjected to intermittent suction, a balanced valve for establishing communication between said compartments, a float in one of said compartments, a lost motion connection between said float and said valve for alternately opening and closing said valve, and mechanical means for holding said valve in either its open or closed position.

6. A fuel receptacle comprising two compartments one only of which is'subjected to intermittent suction, a balanced valve for establishing communication between said compartments, and means controlled by the level of fuel in one of saidcompartments for opening and closing said valve.

7. A fuel receptacle comprising two compartments one only of which is subjected to intermittent suction, a balanced valve for establishing communication between said compartments, and means for opening and closing said valve.

8. A fuel receptacle comprising a tank having an end closure provided with suction and air ports, a valve for each of said ports, said valves each having a stem projecting into said tank, a-rigid lever pivoted at a point adjacent one side of said tank, said lever having a lost motion connection with said valve stems, a leaf spring having one end supported adjacent the other side of said tank and its other end connected with the free end of said lever, and a float in said tank having a lost motion connection with said lever.

9. A fuel receptacle comprising a tank having an end closure provided with suction and air ports, a valve for each of said ports, said valves each having a stem, a rigid lever pivoted at a point adjacent one side of said tank, said lever having a lost motion connection with said valve stems, a leaf spring having one end supported adjacent the other side'of said tank and its other end connected with the free end of said lever, and a float in said tank having a lost motion connection with said lever for alternately actuating said lever in opposite directions.

10. A fuel receptacle comprising a tank having an end closure provided with suction and air ports, a valve for each of said ports, said valves each having a stem, a rigid lever pivoted at a point adjacent one side of said tank, said lever having a lost motion connection with said valve stems, a spring having one end supported adjacent the other side of said tank and its other end connected with the free end of said lever, and a float in said tank having a lost motion connection with said lever for alternatelyactuating said lever in opposite directions.

11. A fuel receptacle comprising a tank provided with suction and air ports, a valve for each of said ports, a rigid lever for alternately opening and closing said valves, a float in said tank for alternately moving said lever'in. opposite directions, and a spring having one end connected with said lever, and its other end connected with a stationary support, the distance between the two points of support of said spring being less than the length of said spring.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 20th day of May, 1922.

HORACE H. WVELCH.

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