US1599186A - Valve device for sprinkler systems - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 7 1926.

G. l. ROCKWOOD VALVE DEVICE FOR SPRINKLER SYSTEMS Filed Oct. 27, 1919 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 MW a/yafir'aahqafl GEFM.

Sept. 7 1926.

G. l. ROCKWOOD VALVE DEVICE FOR SPRINKLER SYSTEMS Filed Oct. 27, 1919 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 MMAR ozyeffz'bcirww? Patented Sept. 7, 1926.

vGEORGE I. RQCKWOOD, 0F W'ORCESTEB, JVEASSACHUSE'ITS. I

.VALYEIDEVICIE FOR SifItWKWB-fiYSTIEM Application filed Oetqber 27', i919; Serial I Ip. 333,619.

The object this invention is to provide an improved ClIfi BlGIilJRtl valve dev ce for sprinkler systems whichshall be convenientantl sure in operation, easy to ma'nu-,

5 facture, and which also, if desired, can be usetl to make the system' Operate inter ehaiigeably either oufthe dry pipe plan or the wet pipe In [a spriu'kler system arranged on the dry pipe plan, feenipressecl'air is giritrecluceal at a pressure per squaremeh less thauthat of the Water supply. Two congelntly acting valves are employed, the larger valve being subjected were air pressure usuallv a small amount of water being introclueecl into the system above the larger valve to seal it against air leakslancl the smaller valve being employed to holcl back the water.

is the two valves p'e'rate" conjeintly, the

air pressure acting on the larger valve, at theugh less per square inch than the pressure of the water dufthe water valve, will normally held the '-\vaterrvalve in' seated position. 1

operation by the fusing or releasing (if one for inei'e of the spriiikler heafclsythe air will escape'through the Seine aucl the air pressure the system will be decreased unti'llthe .er pressure acting On theivater valve mu throw both valves to opeup'ositienf ahd water will flew into the system aucl out through the" releasecl sprinkler heads. TWh en this seems, aui'alariii" device eonueetecl piping to the space between the two valves is operatedI I, v, p

is air s normally ma ntained ur the sprinkler use iu lo eatious"where thei pipes and sprinkler heads ar efsubjected to tempera" tures below freezing; i i I Another plan efer arranging a sprinkler s tem is what'is called 'the water or' wet pipe? plan; Injt is plan the eutire system'is filled with water uncler pressure, and a cheek *qztlvaliifteel bylthe tlow of water wheu one vor merej ot the sprinkler heatls "is releasech is employed to eoutrol'the flow to the al'arm, 0r'

he alarm actuating device." This plan-is used in summer 'or' n a heatecl budding. 1

WVhen a valve device is used to "make the" system work on theftl'ry pipe 1 plan, thejlarger er air valve must not only seat accurately, but, when seated, must act also to ;h'old the \Vheu a QTY pipe system is called into thernie're, as the 0 "bearing area,

sf,*stem,"the sarhe'i's fielryl and: theretere' is adapted for winter use or for smaller or water alve on-its seat. *Aspraetree w thdifiereutial'valves has shown, the

smaller valve and seat should have co-acting greuutl iietallie surfaces WithOtlt auy play betweeu'then' should. e'd ltaet with itsseat through a flexlll le uater a l su'ehas ruhbeigf in Order; to. Secure a1r t ghtness read ly and also to s enable "smaller valve. V 7 I i I liut there is ordinarily a disadvantage in the use of any knowu elastic jnia jetial 'iu a 'dry pipe valve clue'te its tent ehc'yjte Cling tightly to its seat by asert fefg iling6r eerrosive" action, the result of the lo riigg continued app icatien Of theairpressure"befre the valve ope'ratesin' a re. Hitherto" sueh avclhesiou has bee u a n elerriehtof' riskf ef ure ofthe valve'to operate t under. lowzw er f' supply pressurg'iii the easee't these of differential valv es" having as preferred in the present luv'eution" hau Whe'u'the twpv ages iue gle. Furtot axes to each ethe valyfe. by trans'mi thewater valvet theheariiigpinlpr upon which the air valve pivots; it is'ust i necessary in sueh valve elevicesft o} a sha ift with a co iisiclerab e 'elia met'er ar d cl also a n eh tighter fit in its hearings than would. he nee ssary in a clry' pipe valve of equal size water-valve not having its valve 'aX'es co'iueiclentf This is because in the latter device the air ivalve,

v i {p bear ng shal has euly U0 suppo t the weight ef the valve and guide itto amtfreiuits seat, au cl is netsubje ct tdahystresshy the pressure ef water en the waterj valve.

my present iiiv'entiou, Ipfoyiftle means;

st oi for increasing the leverage of:the'j tl the water yalve aga nst" the an valve; which increase comes iuto play a fte i meve ent otth'e' valves has begun, and "whieh inultliplies the pressure usu ally availablein valves, otthis type to pull thefrubbef dill eit'jits t air pv vei it e n s i e i w th i l.

eat'in advance" pt puttingjipreslsu re the axis or" ill? air 1 valve inclined to the axis] thewater valve, I v since su'elrva lve eleviees haveairvalves'of 5 ihueh less area relativejly td is fte u e ja smajlle i f: mg part ofthethrustef H v v(i0 Theilargeror air valve,en the etherhauel,

hat of the water v seat'iand te't'urn the yalvea-heut its shaft Vagaiust the starting f etien engendered "by corrosion;

1e" a'eeemplish these etfe s; I

have'meuutecl the valves on separateip votsor shafts and have counterweighted the larger walve so that gravity will act as a force, independent of the water supply, normally to hold said valve on its seat, and will rock said valve away from its seat after a partial movement thereof; and I have provided separable means between the two valves comprising a strut, preferably having a cam combined therewith, loosely pivoted on the water valve and pressedupon by the air valve. l'preferably mount this strut on the water valve in such a manner as to allow its. angularposition to vary slightly as pressure is applied to it by the closing force of the air valve, thus increasing the pressure which holds the small valve to its seat.

, T he small or water valve may also be "counter-weighted to work onthe same plan previously 7 described in connection with the large valve and the parts also may be arranged so that the smaller valve when open will act as a lock to keep the large valve from accidentally dropping back to its seat after the valves have been thrown to open position. 7

When the valve device is used to make the system operate on the wet pipe plan, the air valve is held or left full open in inoperative position and the water valve is set to operate as a check valve to prevent water flowing backing in the system or to the alarm device, except when a sprinkler opens.

As the water valve and seat have to be accurately ground vfor the reasons previously pointed out, I combine a flexible or yielding valve device with the water valve,

which yielding valve controls a port con nected to operate the alarm. As this extra valve is yielding, or flexible, it will not interfere with the water valve being forced powerfully and accurately to its seat when 'both valvesare used conjointly in the dry pipe plan. 7

The best way now known to me for prac- I ticing this invention is shown in the accompanying two sheets of drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation ofv my improved device set to operate on the dry pipe .tion' the water valve assumes when the system is called into operation. r

1 Referring to the drawings, and in detail i V A designates a casing which may be made out of two shell castings for ease in manufacture and which casing is provided with a removable plate a. r i

designates'the large or air valve mounted on a plate B carried or formed on an arm or arms B swinging or turning on a pivot B The arm or armsB are arranged to form a counter-weightfor the large valve B so positioned that gravity will normally 7 ct as an independent force to keep the valve B on its seat and so thatafter the valve is partially lifted or rocked from its scat, gravity will act to rock the valve away from its seat. These parts thus act on the,

plan disclosed in reissue Letters Patent granted to me October 28, 1919', No. 145%.

The metal of the arm or arms B can be n ployed to get'thls counterqvelghtlng efset but it is preferred to provide the same ,dditionally with a soft metal plug or core C which can be trimmed or wh ttled to get exactly the right balancing effect, and the end of the core is projected so asto strike ae'ainst themetal of the casing to form a.

stop to limit thefull opening movement of v the valve 13, when the plate a is removed for inspection as indicated in dotted lines 1n Fig. l. The arms may also be provided with an additional soft metal stop'C set in position to strike on the removable plate a to determine the open position of the valve B, 7

when the system comes into operation.

The valve 13 is preferably made of rubber, leather or other flexible material and cooperates with a valve seat or ring D which can be set into the casing. The large valve B and seat D are preferably inclined as shown. f 7 7 Y E designates the water valve which cooperates with a ground valve seat F set intov the casing. The water valve E is car ried by an arm G mounted on a pivot G on theopposit-e side of the water relatively to the pivot B The armG isarranged'and shaped so as to counter-weight the water valve E on the same plan that the air valve B is counter-Weighted; that is, so that the same will swing by gravity -to, the full open. position after a partial opening; movement thereof, but so that the same will tend normally [10 seat by. gravity. The arm G may beprovided with a soft metal core H for this purpose which may be projected so as to form a striking stop for the water valve as it assumes its. full open position and which. also w ll act as a leo closer or valve moving with the water valve I for controlling the leak pipe connection as hereinafter described. i

. The Water valve Eis held in'the arinG by a bolt 1 threaded into the same as illus-' trated in detail in Fig. '3. This boltl has upwardly projected slotted arms I. r

J designates strut having trunnions l fitted in the slotted arms I and loosely held in place thereinrby caps Piattached by 7 screws to the top of the arms, I.

A cani J extends from the struts J and engages a leaf' spring J havlng an upward. extension J rattache'd by screws to the bolt 1, which spring yieldinglv holdsthe str'ut in upright position. The strut J isthus sidewise yieldingly held in position. The plate B has a notch 13 on the under side thereof which engages with the top end of the strut J when The strut thereforethe valves are closed. forms a sidewise yielding separable connection between the valves.

By arranging the axis of the strut substantially in line or parallel with the center of the water valve E when the sameis closed, the pressure on theair'valve is'frnultiplied and transmitted to the water valve "with a sort of folding toggle action so that the an water valve more powerfully to its seatthan lighter air'pressur'e is'eff'eetive to force the would be "the case if the valve Bbore directly on the valve E. j

This actlonis obtained because-as the air valve is pressed downwardly by the airpres sure it will have quite a little swinging move- .inent about its pivotor shaft B The pres sure of this swinging movement will be ap water valve will first be applied through the strut with a toggling action to the air valve which will'g lve a-very powerful upward thrust thereon to lift the air Valvevery i forcibly from its seat this increasing leverv age or toggleactionzis obtained because as the water valve is pressedupwardly it will turn about its pivot or shaft The pressure of this upward movement will be applied through the trunnions J. -One arm .7 of'the toggle will be the radius ofthe swingtance J to B.

ing action. of the water Valveor the distance G and J, and the other arinwill be thedisover so that it will start on-itsfurther swinging movement, the strut J preferably folding baclrand lyin down on-top of the qwater valve as shown in Fig. 6, asthe' strut J folds down on the nut I, the CEIIII'JZ will snap, out of the extension J ofthe'spring J and the strut will remain .in itslowered po- 's1t1o'n. r 7 When it is desired to into vertical or operative position, thesanle .is. forcibly} pushed, to an :upright position; i forcing the point of the cain J pastthepro- 65 g jection' J? on :the' spring J e -As the lower The continued upward movement of thewater valve will tipthe air valve set the strut againpartof the CELiXl'lS made flat where the spring engages the .san'ie', the strut will be spring centered or held so thatit can have flylelfling sidewise movement either way, so that a vthe toggling act-ions, previously described can take place. Thisifold'edoperation of the strut is advantageous because if the valves should not get-to wide open posltionand should return to-their'seats after a partial or initial opening, movement thereof, the i ,strutJ would be out of the way as shown 1n dotted-lines in 3 sothatthewater valve would'not'be held to its seat and water-pressure would act on the under side of the large valve and openthe'same, an'dpreventwhat is technically known as water coluinning,

that is, the filling ofthesystem above the largevalve to a suflioientheight to keep'the valves fclosed by the1r'd1fferentialf action,- althoughthe systeinvhaslbeen called into oper- .ation by the release ofzjone. or'more sprinkler headsm s lVhen the water valve is open ifithe air valve "should any reason swingback towards'its seat the open water valve will prevent the a valve from return ngto its seat -'as the plate B will strili'ethe u ,er' I point 'of the water; valveabefore the valve B can/reach its seat D. r

"valve E- is at- :tached a piece of flexible nietal K which car-.

' To. theiside' of the water ies 'aleather :or rubber valve face K. At

the seating, ,ofthe water valve by air pressure acting on the large air valve through i tie strut or stud Jis not interfered with. i

'A. bushing'L is threadedinto thecasing,-

the inner end ofthisr'bush-inglbeing machined to form. a valveiseatandthe core lama ch 'd toierni. avalve to cooperatethere I with. A leak or d, in pipell" 'is'connecte the side of the .valve'Lseat'D, an additional r portlK isprovide'tl togwhich a pipe extend- I ing tothealarm' is connected. Asthis'ad-g r ditional valve'is'fiexible or is yieldingly car- -;ried bythewater valve'E, the operationof the bushing"L. gl Vihen the valves, B and i E are in closed position shown in Fig. 1

pass a say. through the-leak pipe elffbut I any slight leaf-rage pastlhewater valve will when the systeingis called into operation and Q? the valves thrown to o'penposition as shown I in 2, this lea-k or draiirwill'be cutoff or closed; r

hen the device is used on the drypipe plan, bothivalves arecclosed and are setfin the position shown 1n Figfil. *lf-thefs ys teinis called'into op ration, both-valves are thrown toopen p'ositlonias shownfain Fig, 2

1 and an unobstructed flow of water is allowed thro'ughjthe valve device! and water. will flow to th I -After. operation; when'itis desired to replate a. removeth .the

alarm through-the port K set the v'alve'sftne l. gecvalve swung" ;downfto:ihoriZonta quoitien as showne'ln; dotted lines ."iii E1 the water valve pulled down onto itsseat, the strut moved back to vertical position, the air valve pushed back onto its seat, and the plate a replaced.

When the valve device is to be used on the wet pipe plan, the parts are adjusted as shown in Fig. 5, so that the air valve remains open or in inoperative positionand the water valve alone is employed. When working On this plan, it is not necessary to drain the space intermediate the two Valvesand the pipe L is closed by a suitable valve. If the system is called into operation when operatin on this plan the water valve E will lift and the valve K will be raised and water will flow through the pipe K to operate the alarm device.

1 In some uses, it may be desired not to have the water valve balanced so that it will remain in open position after being partially lifted from its seat as for illustration, inplaces where excessive water hammer may beencountered as in city mains,

To provide for this purpose a bolt-M is threaded into the casing and a collar M .is arranged on the end of the bolt. When the screw is withdrawn as far as possible,

struction described is preferred.

. the

the same does not interfere with the full opening movement of the counter-weighted water valve as will be seen by referring to Fig. 2. \Vhen it is desired to have the water valve always return to its seat, the

bolt is screwed into the casing as shown in Fig. 6, which position of the bolt will prevent the water, valve from remaining in open position as its center of gravity can not move to the right of its pivot, an ear G being provided on the arm G for this.

purpose. The collar on the boltwill thus determine the adjustment necessary to set- .without'departing from the scope of my invention as expressed in the claims. 7

Having thus fully described 'my invention, what I claim and desireto secure by Letters Patent is I 1. A valve device for sprinkler systems comprising a casing having a large seat, a'

valve pivoted to the casing, a small valve seat, a smaller valve independently pivoted to the casing, and separable connections carried by said valves and movable relatively thereto and arranged so that when in one position the large valve will act therethrough to hold the. smaller valve to its seat, "said valves in their opening movement moving said connections to a position where they remain out of operative relation between the valves, whereby if therlarge valve returns to its seat after an opening move ment thereof said connections will not func-' 7 tion to hold closed the smaller valve even if the latter has returned to its seat.

2..A valve device for sprinkler systems con'iprising a casing having a large seat, a valve pivoted to the casing, a smaller valve seat, an independently pivoted smaller valve, a strut pivoted to the smaller valve in position to be engaged by the large valve, a cam extending from said strut, a spring engaging said cam, the parts being arranged so that when an opening movement occurs the strut will be turned down to inoperative position and the cam released from said sarin whereb if the lar e valve returns D.

to itsseat after an opening movement thereof it will not close the smaller valve.

3. A valve device for use in sprinkler systems comprising a large valve and seat, a relatively smaller valve and seat and'separable means between the valves compris mg a pivoted strut carried by one valve and 7 directly engaging with the other valve so as to fold to inoperative position after a partial or initial opening movement of the valves. 7

4. A valve device for use in sprinkler systems comprising a casing having alarge and a small valve independently pivoted to the casing, means for counterweighting the small valve so that gravity normally acts to keep the valve on its seat and becomes effective to rock said valve from its seat after a partial movement thereof and to hold the valve in its open position, and separable connections between the valves, the parts bemg so arranged that aft-er the valves have been opened the small valve will stand inposition toprevent the large valve from returning to its seat. 7 j

5. A valve device for use in sprinkler systems comprising a casing having a large valve seat and a small valve seat, valves 1 pivoted to the casing, means for counter- 't 'th ""ll- 1 th t t ii el ll m e sma er va ie so a gl21V1 normally acts to keep the same on its seat and becomes effectivev to rock SitlCl valve from its seat after a partial opening move ment thereof, a bolt threade'd'into the casing and means for determining the adjustment of said bolt so that the same can be set to prevent the smaller valvemfrom remaining open.

6. A valve systems, comprising a large valve and seat, a relatively smaller valve and seat, separable meansbetween said valves arranged so that they can be usedconjointly or so that the smaller valve can be usedalone, a port alongside the smaller valve connected to an device for use in sprinkler alarm, and a yielding valve carried by the smaller valve for controlling, said port, whereby the alarm will be Operated Whether the valves are used conjointly or only the smaller valve is used.

7. A valve device for use in sprinkler systems comprising a largevalve and seat, a relatively smaller valve and seat, a drain or drip opening for the space between the two valves, and a valve or closure for said opening attached to the smaller valve.

or drain opening for the space between the two valves, and a valve or closurefor said opening attached to the smaller valve.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto afiixed my signature.

GEORGE 1. RocKWooD;

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