US1666758A - Self-regulating gravity discharge terminal - Google Patents

Description

April 17, 1926. 1,666,758

J. J. STOETZEL I SELF REGULATING GRAVITY DISCHARGE TERMINAL Filed May 23, 1924 M IN VEN TOR.

wlp ATTORNEY.

Patented Apr. 17, 1928.

UNITED T JOSEPH J. STOETZEL, or new YORK, NQYQ, ASSIGNOR T0 or." &

. A'oonroRA'rIon or'nnw YORK.

Ar ES PATENT. 1o FFICE,

G .A'JILAS sysrnmsino,

SELF-REGULATING GRAVITY DISCHARGE TERMINAL.

- Application filed May '23,

mentum is not checked, cushioned, retarded,

or otherwise guarded aga1nst,;the carrier is apt to strike the outlet door with undesir-. able force,,resulting at times in injury to the carrier, to the door, or other object, and, at all events, causing too much noise, inzits'de- :livery. g 1

7 On the other hand, when the discharge door opens, either by pressure oftheradvan ing air aheadof the carrier, orbyv theaot of the carrier in striking thesaine atmosplieric air at once rushesin and this inrush is. apt to thrust the carrier backward and thus delayits discharge or even pocket the, carrier. iIn such case the carrierhas to be manually removed, To overcome all these. difficulties is the general object of my invention., I The specific means which I' consider the best to, accomplish this object are shown in. the accompanying drawing, in which I have not found itnecessary to :illustrate any-part of the pneumatic despatch tube systein,- itself, except the, outlet terminal section," as the general construction" of such systems is now pretty well understood bythose famil-v iar with the art. ,7 The discharge terminal section shown con sists primarily of the exhaust tubelA, forining'an H, by cross-tube-B, and having a casv ing,C,-and a discharge tube D, equipped with a self closing doorE." U

Theexhaust tube A, may be of "the usual type, connected, above, with the usu'al tran sit system-by which carriersare,driven'by air-pressure (usually atinosphericifrom the cashiers station to the various salesmans stations,and back againduring the opera-r tion ofthe system,aiid connected, below, i with an exhauster, of any suitable character, governedias to its speed by a suitable governor, in response to difierences in the air: pressure within the transit system. The direction of flow of air through said tubeis shown 'by'arrows- Some fiow in this direction is always maintained when the ex-- 1924. Serial in. 715,300.

hauster is working but the quantity and pressurefof the flow varies according to the requirements of tlie system.

The terminal door E, is preferably of light material and easily; deflected by the pressure exerted upon the air in terminal tube D, when saidcarrier has passed down' wardly below thecross-tube B. To this end I preferto make the d0or E, overbalai ced by thecounterweight.F-,-and pivoted as at a, on abracketmounted on the outside of f easing C, in such, manner thatthe'dow i- .ward pullof this counterweight F, tends at all times to keep said door E uponi s seat and to return the same to its seat whenever ,displaced,.that is, opened or partly'so,

inlthe direction of the curved arrow-line, i l

' The discharge tube D, preferably passes through the casing C, as Sl10Wn,fb11t"liaS no communication with the interior of said cas-* ing except by means of the cross tube B, and;

exhaust. tube 1A.,

,. The casing C, hasa port G, by which at mospheric air, may be admitted to said caswhen occasion requires, and thence to the: exhaust tube A, both above and below- 1 casing.= This portG, is normally closed by the door E,;,but is instantly responsive ,to-

any opening, however slight, of said. door. ,The operation :of ,my, improved discharge terminal as appliedto an open current or vacuum system of pneumatic despatch tubes is as follows 1 When no carrier is n line, the entire system, is idleexcept for afslight flow of air in response to a continued runningoi the exhauster at minimumsp'eed, Thisislightl flow of air is at atmospheric pressure, and. permeates theentire terminal shown. That portion of the air, which 'fills'the tube VD, may be regarded as static, under these conditions, i I j, I

Upon"the insertion of a carrier in the sys-, tem atwhatever point above the section ex; haust tube shown in the drawing, the system becomes temporarily elosed againstthe atmospherebetween the pointer said insertion and, the exhauster.v Itwill, of course, be understood that a suitable air-controlvalveis located somewhere in theexhausttube A, below the circle marked iV,. and above the exhauster. This cont'rol'valve, it

'which moves in the directionflofthe arrows t I properly constructed, will at once, open; upon enough to permit the exhauster to speed up and exhaust the air ahead of said carrier to the predetermined rarefication, usually expressed as one pound of vacuum.

In instant response to this action on the part of the exhauster, the atmospheric air behind the inserted carrier will begin to push the carrier toward its destination at a speed of approximately twenty-five feet per second. This movement of the carrier will push all the rarefied air before it toward the terminal shown in the drawing, (and thence to the exhauster) at its own speed of travel. The direction of flow through the exhaust tube will, as before stated, he in the direction of the arrows, that is through cross tube B, casing C, to the exhauster. The air in tube D will still be static but rarefied to the same degree as that in the exhaust tube A.

V This condition will continue until the carrier has reached themouth of the cross-tube B. The momentum of the carrier will be suflicient to carry it past the mouth of the cross tube and the carrier will, therefore, compress the static air intube D until the pressure becomes great enough to open the discharge door E. When thistalzes placethe carrier will pass, by its own gravity, quietly out of the tube D and fall into any receptacle which may be awaiting the carrier,

. below.

Meanwhile, as soon as the carrier passes the mouth of the cross-tube B, the full rush of atmospheric air. which was behind the carrier and driving it forward, will become free to pass directly through tube B, casing C, and the rest of exhaust tube A to the ex hauster. Unless there is another carrier in line followlng the first carrier. In such case,

of course, the atmospheric air between the two carriers will be speedily exhausted and,

only to prevent any back-draft upon car-- rier in tube D, but to hasten the exit of said carrier by the door E, if necessary.

Another function of the port G, is to quicken the action of the control-valve located between the casing C, and the exhauster. This it does by supplying free air to the exhaust tube nearer the exhauster than the cross-tube B, and thus cutting down the speed of the exhauster sooner than would be the case if the control-valve depended for its action solely upon air coming from the bell-mouth through the entire length of tubing. V

Where there is more than one carrier in transit, the admission of air through port G,

by opening door E, tends to prevent the following carriers from too violent an increase of speed upon the discharge of a preceding carrier. 7

As soon as the last carrier in line has passed out of line at the discharge terminal,

matic dispatch systems, a transit tube, an-

exhaust tube having its receiving end portion mounted in adjacent and parallel relation to the delivery end portion of the transit tube, a cross-tube connectionbetween the end of the exhaust tube and a. point in the transit tube spaced from the end thereof, a gate hinged to the delivery end of the transit tube, a hinged connection of the gate with c.

the tube. being located at the edge of' the transit tube remote from the exhaust tube, the hinged end of "the gate being. extended and provided with a. weight normally tending to close the gate, said exhaust tube being provided with an air inlet port adjacent the delivery end of the transit tube, said gatemember being extended at its free end to close the inlet port'in the exhaust tube when:

in closing relation to the end of the transit tube. r

2. In a carrier delivery device for pneumatic dispatch systems, a transit tube, an exhaust tube having its receiving end portion mounted in adjacent and parallel relation to the delivery end of the transit tube,

a cross-tube connection between the end of the exhaust tube and a point in the transit tube spaced from the end thereof, a hinged gate attached to the terminal edge of the transit tube remote from the exhaust tube, said gate occupying an inclined position and provided with a weight for moving the gate to closed position, the terminal end of the transit tube being wholly closedat the gate whereby no communication is provided between the delivery end of the transit tube and the exhaust tube, said exhaust tube being provided with an air inletport adjacent the delivery end of the transit tube, said hinged gatelhaving an extension arranged to close the inlet port when the hinged gate is in closing relation to the delivery end of the transit tube.

JOSEPH J. STOETZEL.

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