US1689676A - Locomotive booster - Google Patents

Description

' F. W. MARTIN LOCOMOTIVE BOOSTER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed Oct. 31, 1923 w/vwm A TTORNEY MJW V Oct. so, 1928. I 1,689,676

. F. w. MARTIN LOCOMOTIVE BOOSTER.

Original Filed Oct. 31, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 f&

I INVENTOR- A TTORNEYS fit.

Patented Get. 30, 1928.

UNITED STA TES PATENT OFFICE.

FBEDERICK'W. MARTIN, OF BRONXVILLE, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO FRANKLIN RAIL- WAY SUPPLY COMP-ANY, A CORPORATION OF DELAWAREJ LOCOMOTIVE BOOSTER.

Application filed October 31, 1923, Serial No. 671,839.

My invention relates to locomotive boosters, and is more especially concerned with operating such boosters on superheated steam. Besides providing superheated steam for the booster of a locomotive, I aim to prevent burning out of the superheating means when the booster is not in operation, and to utilize such means advantageously for other purposes. Preferably, I provide for doing all this automatically, with little or no special attention to the matter from the engineer of the locomotive.

How these and other results and advantages can be realized through my invention in a novel manner will appear from my description hereinafter of the best embodiment of the invention known to me. In this embodiment, the general booster arrangement and control are substantially as shown in U. S. Patent No. 1,470,761 to Frank Peters; and means are shown for utilizing the booster superheater for the locomotive steam supply when the locomotive is in operation without the booster. In the present instance, indeed, the locomotive shown is fitted with a superheater of its own, which may be supplemented by the booster superheater.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic side view of a locomotive and its booster with my invention applied thereto; and Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of the operating parts and connections more essential to a proper understanding of my invention, on a larger scale than Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings generally, but first more especially to Fig. 1, it will be seen that the locomotive shown is equipped with a booster engine or motor 5 applied to an axle 6 of its trailertruck,although it might, of course, be applied to any other suitable axle of the locomotive, or of its tender, or even of some other vehicle or car in the train. The locomotive is also equipped with a superheater 7 of familiar type, comprising a header structure 8 mounted in the smoke-box, and tubes 9 extending re'arward into extra large flues 10 of the boiler 11. The header 8. (Fig. 2) is divided into upper and lower intake and delivery compartments 12, 13 by a horizontal diaphragm 14, and the superheater tubes 9 are connected in parallel between these compartments. The intake compartment 12 receives boiler steam through the pipe 15 from the main by opening a partially Renewed September Z'Y, 192G.

locomotive throttle 16 in the steam dome 17 of the boiler 11, as usual, and the superheated steam passes from the delivery compart-merit 13 to the locomotive engine valve chests and cylinders 18 through pipes 19, as usual.

In the present instance, the superheater 20 for the booster 5 is similar to the main superheater 7 in construction and arrangement. Its header structure 21 is located directly in front of the main header 8, and, indeed, cast integral with it. The intake compartment 22 of this header 21 receives boiler steam from the steam dome 17 through piping 23, 24C controlled by the booster throttle 25, a piston-actuated by-pass valve 26, and a stop-valve 27, and superheated steam passes from the delivery compartment 28 to the booster engine through piping 29, controlled by a piston-actuated valve 30.

hen the booster is not in operation, its superheater 20 may be protected and prevented from burning out by passing fluid thcrethrough to absorb the heat. lnder these conditions, the booster superheater 20 may be shut off from the booster 5 and from any supply of steam by closure of the valves 25, 26, and 30, and may be connected to receive steam from the lOCOlllO'tlVQ supply and thus supplement the locomotive superheater 7. In the present instance, the booster superheater 20 is connected in parallel with the locomotive superheater 7 for this purpose, balanced double valve controlling passage of steam throughbypass chambers 34 and 35 above and below the intake compartments 12, 22 and the dclivery compartments 13,28,1'espectively'. here shown the booster supply pipe 23 ,is connected to the upper chamber 3 1.) In effect, therefore, the superheaters i, 20 are virtually a single superheatcr for the locomotive steam supply when the valve 33 is open; while when this valve 33 is closed, such super-heater is sectionalized ,-so to speak, and the booster steam supply passed through the portion thereof hereinbefore referred to as the booster superheater 20.

As already intimated, the varying use of the superheater section 20 is in the present instance controlled automatically, as an incident to the general control of the booster 5. It becomes necessary, therefore, to describe also the general booster control system here illustrated, which is substantially shown .in the Peters patent mentioned above and in the application of Lye & F errier, Serial No, 587,868, filed in the U. S. Patent Oflice September 13, 1922, and assigned to theassignee of this application.

As explained in the citations just given and in U. S. Patent No. 1,339,395 to lngersoll, granted May 11, 1920, boosters such as here shown at 5 are intended to assist the locomotive in starting and at slow Speeds; but ,they are not intended to drive the locomotive by themselves, or to operate at all at high speeds. Hence provisions are made for connecting the booster 5 to and discon neeting it from the axle 6 that it drives in due correlation with the operation of the locon'iotive, and for operating the booster throttle in like correlation.

The diagrammatic illustration of the booster 5 in igs. 1 and 2 shows acylinder 36 and the pinions 37, 3,8 and idler gear 39 through which they drive the axle 6. The pinion 37 is driven .by the booster cylinders 36, and the pinion 38 is fast on the axle 6. Theidler pinion 39 is mounted on a rocker 40 fulcrumed at 41, it is always in mesh with the pinion 37, and is swung into and out of mesh with the pinion 38 by a movable operating cylinder 42 and an opposing spring 43 and counterweight 44. Fluid pressure, preferably air, is sup plied to the cylinder 42 through the pipe 4.5 and is conducted therefrom through the pipe 46 as wiil appear hereinafter. The booster motor is said to 1 be entrained when the cylinder 42 is operated to throw the idler gear 39 into mesh with the gear 38, as shown in Fig. 1. Disentrainment is accomplished by exhausting the fluid pressure from the cylinder 42, whereupon the spring 43 assisted by the counterweight 44 returns the rocking me1n I ber 40 to the position illustrated in Fig. 2.

Before the booster motor 5 can be thrown intooperation, it is necessary for the engineman to throw the reverse lever 47 into the corner as it is colloquially expressed. In this'position, which is to the right in the showing of Figs. 1 and 2, a latch 48carried by the reverse lever 47 engages the end of the plunger 49 of what is called the reverse lever pilot valve 50. When .the plunger .49 is depressed, its upper valve 51 is seated, and exhaust of fluid from pipe 45 to the atmosphere through .the opening 52 thereabove Y is thus discontinued. At the same time, the lower valve 53 is opened to establish communication between the air reservoir 54 and the pipe 45, through the pipe 55 and the interiorof the reverse lever pilot valve casing. The cylinder 42 is'then actuatedvby the compressed air to move the idler gear 39 into mesh with the gear 38 as already described. At the same time, the compressed air also passes through branches of the pipe 45 to open the spring-closed valves .26 and 30, thus permitting a small amountof boiler steam to pass through the pipes 23, 24, and 29 to the booster 5, so as to turn it over slowly and facilitate proper meshing of the gears 38, 39, as well as to blow of]? water of condensation through the then open blow-off cocks 56.

After the cylinder 42 has been moved to accomplish the foregoing, the air pressure is admitted to the pipe 46 leading to the chamber 57 at the left hand end of the throttle pilot and control valve 58 which is preferably secured to the side of the steam dome 17. Here further progress of the air pressure is temporarily blocked by the valve 59.

The main locomotive throttlelo may be controlled and operated (as usual) by means of the bell crank lever 62 and the rod 63 leading to the locomotive cab. After the reverse lever 47 has been throwninto the corner and the main throttle 16 has been opened to admit steam tothe pipe 15 and to the locomotive cylinders 18 in the manner well understood in locomotive practice, the boiler pressure will be admitted to the righthand end of the piston 64 of the-throttle pilot and control valve 58, through the pipe 65 and the chamber 66. Thereupon the piston 64 will be moved to the left, against the pressure of the springs 67 and 68, to unseat the valve 59 and adn'iit air pressure from the pipe 46 and the chamber 57 to the chamber 69 and the pipe 70; This pipe 70 has branches leading to the operating piston 71 oft-he spring-closed booster throttle 25, to the operating piston 72 of the self-open .ing partly unbalanced booster superheater valve 33, and to the piston-closed self-opens ing booster cylinder blow-oil cocks 56, such 1 as described in the above-cited Lye and Ferrier application. \Vhen, therefore, the main. throttle 16 is opened afterthe reverse lever 47 has been thrown forward into the corner, the booster 'cylinderblowpif cocks 56 will be closed, the booster throttle 25 opened, and the valve 33 closed for passage of the booster steam through the booster superheater 20, the valve 30 having previously been opened, as hereinbefore described.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the booster motor will not be effective as a propolling power until after the main throttle has been moved to admit steam pressure to the main locomotive cylinders.

When it comes into operation, it will automatically be supplied with superheated steam, by virtue of the opening of the valve 30 by the initialoperation of the'plunger 49 to entrain the booster 5 and of the closing of the valve 33 when the .boost-erthrottle 2.5 opened after ntrainment of the booster. And when, finally, the locomotive 1s running withoutthe booster, the booster superheater 20 will be utilized to heat the steam supply for the locomotive, and thus protected from burning out.

I claim:

1. The combination with a locomotive and a booster, 0t superheating means for the locomotive steam supply, and means for passing separately therethrough the steam supply for the booster when the latter is in operation.

2. The combination with a locomotive and a booster, of a superheater for the locomotive steam supply, and means for sectionalizing the superheater and passing steam for the booster through a portion thereof.

3. The combination with a locomotive and a booster, of a superheater tor the booster, and means for preventing burnout of the superheater when the booster is not in operation.

4;. The combination with a locomotive and a booster, of a separate superheater unit for the booster, and means for passing steam for the locomotive through said superheater when the booster is not in operation.

5. The combination with a locomotive and a booster, of superheaters for their respective steam supplies, and means for passing steam for the locomotive through the superheater for the booster.

6. The combination with a locomotive and a booster, means for automatically entraining and starting the booster when the locomotive is started, superheaters for the steam supplies of locomotive and booster, and means for automatically connecting the booster superheater in parallel with the locomotive superheater when the booster is not entrained.

7. The combination .With a locomotive and a booster, and control means for entraining and disentraining the latter, of a super-v heater for the boester steam supply, and

motive means actuated by said control means for passing other fluid through said superheater when the booster is not entrained.

8. The combination with a locomotive and a booster, and control means for the latter, of a superheater for the booster steam sup ply, and means actuated by said control means for passing steam for the locomotive through said superheater when the booster is not in operation.

9. The combination with a locomotive and a booster, and control means for entraining the latter, of a superheater for the locomotive, and means actuated by said control means for sectionalizing said superheater and passing steam for the booster through a portion thereof when the booster is entrained.

10. The combination with a locomotive and a booster, of a superheater for. the locowith valved connections to the booster steam supply and to the booster, control means for entraining and slowly turning over the booster, and thereafter opening the valve means in said booster steam supply connectiomand means actuated by the initial operation of said control means to entrain the booster for opening the valve means in the other of the aforesaid connections.

11. The combination of a locomotive, a booster motor, a superheater, conduit means for supplying the locomotive with steam through said superheater, a throttle associated with said conduit means, separate conduit means for supplying the booster with steam through said superheater and a separate throttle for controlling said separate conduit means.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name.

' FREDERICK W. MARTIN.

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