US1784054A - Thermostatically-controlled valve mechanism - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 9, 1930. J. v. GIESLER THERMOSTATICALLY CONTROLLED VALVE MECHANISM Filed 001:. 30, 1926 V Patented 9, 1930 UNITED" STATES JEAN v. emsmn, or KNOXVILLE, rmzmssnn, ASSIGNOB, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS,

PATENT OFFICE TO THE FULTON SYLPHON COMPANY, OF KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE, A CORPORA- TION OF DELAWARE rnEnmos'ra'rIcALLY-cowrnomn VALVE macrmmsu Application filed October 80, 1926- Serial No. 145,340.

quantity of cooling medium in circulation,

and in valve mechanism of the by-pass type wherein the movement of the valve determines the path of circulation of the cooling medium.

It isan object of this invention to provide a thermostatically controlled valve mechanism of simplified construction so that the same may be inexpensively manufactured and readily installed.

Another object of this invention is to provide a thermostatically controlled valve mechanism with improved means of simplified construction for mounting the parts in cooperative relationship.

Other objects will appear as the description of the invention proceeds.

The invention is capable of receiving a variety of mechanical expressions, one of which is shown on the accompanyin draw ing, but it is to be expressly un erstood that the drawing is for purposes of illustration only and is not to be construed as'a definition of the limits of the invention reference being had to the appended claims. for that purpose.

Referring 1n detail-to the drawing wherein the same reference characters are emlo ed to designate corresponding parts in t figures, v Fig. 1 is an enlarged axial section of an embodiment of the present invention, and

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the thermostatically operated valve unit detached from its mounting.

In'the form shown, 1 is a thermostat of any suitable construction and shown as composed of a deeply corrugated, expansible and collapsible, tubular metal wall. prefer- 'ably of resilient metal, and suitably secured at its opposite ends, as by brazing or soldering, to an end wall 2, designed to be secured I in fixed position, and an end wall 3, designed to move underthe expansive and contractive action of any suitable thermosensitive medium enclosed within the same. Said end wall 2 is shown asprovided with an exteriorly threaded boss 4 whereby the thermostat may be secured in fixed position, and

said boss may also be provided with a filling aperture 5, shown as sealed, as by a stopper 6 and solder 7 after the thermosensitive fluid has been introduced into the therto, as by solder, and exteriorly the movable end wall is provided in any suitable way with a stem 9 shown as threaded at its outer end '10 for a purpose to be explained.

Said thermostat 1 is designed to be mounted in fixed position and'is shown as fixedly secured to a cap 112 which may be of any suitable configuration, depending upon the configuration of the parts with which it is to be associated. Said cap 11 is shown as provided with a centrally arranged boss'12 provided with an interiorly threaded" recess 13 into which the boss 4 on the stationary end wall 2 of the thermostat may be threaded until said stationary end wall is brought up tightly against the interior surface 14. Cap 11 is also provided with suitable apertures 15 for attaching thereto the cage to be described, and also with apertures 16 (Fig. 2) by which the unit may be mounted on a housingor on any other suitable structure designed to receive the same.

Surrounding the thermostat 1 is a ca e 17 consisting, in the form shown, of a' ead portion 18 of enerally cylindrical formation, a base or ange portion 19, land a plurality of longitudinally extending ribs 20 which extend between said; head portion 18 and base portion 19, and are preferably formed integrally therewith. Sa1d;.ribs 20 are of s'uflicient size to give the roper degree of rigidity to the structure and at the same time leave a pluralit of openingslbetween the-same to permit ow of the cooling medium without undue restriction. Said base portion 19 is provided with a plurality of interiorly threaded apertures 21 whereby said cage 17 may be secured over the thermostat 1 and to the cap 11,01 within a recess formed in said capas shown, in any suitable way, as

by screws 22. A fluid. tight joint between the heads of said screws and the cap is preferably provided in any suitable way, as by .the interposition of gaskets of any suitable material.

The head port-ion 18 of the cage .17 is provided with an inwardly directed flange 23 which surrounds an opening 24 of any suitable siZe to constitute a valve port. The outer face 25 offlange 23 is referably machined or otherwise suitably ormed so as to also constitute a valve seat. Preferably the flange 23 is an integral part of the cage 17 The head 18 of said cage 17 is also provided interiorl thereof with-'a spider composed of a centra ly arranged elongated -hub portion 26 and a plurality of radially extending arms or ribs 27 which are preferably formed inte direction, i. e., transverse to the direction of flow through the port. Thereby maximum strength is obtained in said ribs with a minimum obstruction of the flow because, in conformit-y with the general rules of deflection I of rectangular beams, the stiffness is in proportion to the first power of the thickness and the third power of the depth. At the same time, this construction permits the use of a valve disk'of minimum area for a given area of valve ort. Both of which advantages are of relatlvely great importance in the confined space available for devices ofthe character described.

w The centrally arranged hub 26 of the spider is provided with an axially arranged opening 28 designed to receive and guide the valve stem 9 in its rectilinear movements. Mounted onthe exteriorly threaded end 10 of said stem 9 is a valve disk 29 of any suitable construction, shown as provided with an axially directed flange 30 which is ma chmed or otherwise suitably finished to seat against the valve seat 25. Valve disk 29 isprovided with a centrally arranged interiorl threaded hub, 31 whereby said valve dis may be threaded ontothe valve stem 9. and

then secured thereon in fixed position in any suitable way, .as b prick punching the threads. Valve dis 29 is also preferably provided with a leakage aperture 32 so as to insure some circulation of cooling medium over the thermostat when the valve disk 29 is closed.

. the fitting. secured to the fitting as by screws through the -Assuming that the thermostat has been assembled and charged with a thermosensitive fluid to operate at a predetermined tem perature, the same may be assembled with the elements so far described by first threading the boss 4 on the stationary end Wall of the thermostat into the interiorly threaded recess 13 on the cap 11, then mounting the cage 17 over the thermostat with the valve stem 9. pro-' jectin'g through the central aperture 28 in the spider, then securing the flange 19 to the cap 11 by the screws 22, and then threading the valve disk 29 on to the valve stem'until it en- .gages the valve seat- 25 and, upon further romg or in conjunction with any suitable sup- 9 port. In Fig. 1a suitable fitting 33 is illustrated more or less diagrammatically. as of generally T formation, one end of said fitting being provided with an interior aperture 34 in 'which the head p0rtion*18 of the cage 17 makes a sliding fit, and the opposite end of said fitting is provided with an aperture 35 through which. the unit may be installed in Said unit may then be fixedly apertures 16 engaging in suitable threaded apertures provided in said fitting, a fluidtight joint being maintained at the surfaces 36 in any suitable way, as by the interposition of a packing. The inlet to the fitting is illustrated at 37.

It is to be understood that the thermostat employed. maybe of any suitable character temperature, to the end that if a leak occurs in the thermostat, the equalization of themternal and external pressures will result in the thermostat expanding to "open the valve.

The valve disk may also be'made of any suitable area with respect to the effective area of the flexible wall of the thermostat; it may be made of such size, for example, that there is an unbalanced pressure ofv the cii culating fluid thereon which will tend to move the valve to safety position upon the occurrence of a leak in the thermostat. w

The cage 17 heretofore described is preferably made as a casting, although this is not essential; as it 'iswithin the contemplation of the broader aspects of this invention to make the cage of other material, the construc-: tion of the ribs 27 of the spider in the form heretofore described enabling suflicient strength and rigidity to be obtained even when the parts are formed of sheet metal.

In operation, the thermostat 1 is contracted so as to hold the valve disk 29 against its seat 25 and prevent circulation of the cooling medium through the fitting 33, except for such slight circulation as is afforded by the leakage aperture 32,. until said medium has reached that temperature at which the thermostat is designed to operate, whereupon the thermostat 1 will expand and withdraw the valve disk 29 from its seat 25 to permit the circulation of cooling medium through the port 24, the extent of the circulation being determined by the extent of opening of said valve. If the temperature continues to rise the thermostat continues to expand until the valve is wide open. In order to form a positive limit to the extent to which the thermostat may expand, the inner end of the hub' mostat is so charged that the pressure interiorly thereof is less than the exterior presv sure at all temperatures below the operating temperature of the thermostat, the equalization of the interior and exterior pressures,

- as upon the occurrence of a leak, will result in an expansion of the thermostat to open the valve. This opening action may be aided by an unbalanced pressure of the circulating medium on the valve disk, or such unbalanced pressure may be alone relied upon to eflect the opening of the valve upon the occurrence of a leak.

It will therefore be perceived that a simple thermostatically operated valve unit has been provided which is inexpensive to manu- I facture andinstall and which, at the same time, is strong and durable in' construction and accurate and eflicient in operation.

While the embodiment of the invention illustrated onthe drawing has been described with considerableparticularity, it is to be expressly understood that the invention is not restricted thereto, as the same is capable of receiving other mechanical expressions, some of which will now readily suggest themselves to those skilled inthe art, while changes may be madein details of construction, arrangement and proportion of parts without departing from the spirit of this invention. Reference is therefore to be had to the appended claims for a definition of the invention.

What is claiined is:

1. In a device of the character described,

in combination with a fitting having a pair of alined apertures therein, a thermostat, a valve' stem and a valve disk operatively con nected thereto, and a-cage for said thermostat composed of a head ortion adapted to be inserted through one 0 said apertures and to fit within the other of said apertures and a' base portion connected to said head portion by longitudinally extending ribs, said head portion havin an integral valve stem guide and an inwar ly a valve seatfor said valve disk.

2. In a device of the character described,

in combination with a fitting having a pair of alined apertures therein, a thermostat, a valve stem and a valve disk operatively condirected flange constituting nected thereto, and acage for'said thermostat composed of ahead portion adapted to be inserted through one ,of said apertures and to fit within the other of said apertures and a base portion connected to said head portion by longitudinally extending ribs, said Y head portion having a valve port opposite said thermostat and a spider integrally connected with-said cage, said spider havin a central- 1y arranged -hub forming a gui e for said valvestem.,

1 3. In a device of the character'described, in combination with a thermostat, a valve disk operatively connected thereto,a ca'ge for said thermostat detachably connected thereto and having an open end adapted to receive and be telescoped over said thermostat and provided at its opposite end with a valve port, a valve stem guide centrally arranged in the plane of said port, and relatively deep i a narrow arms connecting said guide to said i- -cage.

4. In a device of the character described,

in combination with athermostat, a valve 3 disk operatively connected thereto, a cap to which said thermostat is secured, and a cage for said thermostat secured in a recess of said cap at one end and provided with .a

valve port at its op osite end.

5. In a device 0' the character described, in combination with a thermostat, a valve disk operatively connected thereto, a cap to which said thermostat is secured, a cage for said thermostat provided with a flange at I one 'end' and a valve port at its opposite end, and means for detachably securing said flange to said cap. 3

6. In a device of the character described, in combination with a thermostat, a valve disk .operatively connected thereto, the stationary end wall of said thermostat being provided with a threaded boss, a cap havin an interiorly threaded recess in'which said oss 1s secured, and a cage for-said thermostat secured to said cap at one end and provided with a valve port at its op site end. 7. In a device of the c aracter described,

in combination with a thermostat, a valve disk and stem operatively connected thereto,

- a tubular cage of cast metal for said thermostat adapted to telescope over said thermostat and aving an integrally continuous head portion provided with a valve port and an integrally formed inwardly directed flange around said port which constitutes a seat for said valvedisk, and a spider in said port providing a valve stem guide and cast integrally' with said cage.

8. In a device of the character described, in combination with a thermostat, a valve disk operatively connected thereto, and a tubular cage for said thermostat composed of an integrally continuous head portion and a base portion connected by a plurality of peripherally arranged and longitudinally extending ribs, said head portion having a valve port, and a s ider .formed inte ally with said ribs and aving an integraI centrally arranged tubular hub.

9. In a device of the character described, I

in combination'with a thermostat having a valve stem and a valve disk operatively connected thereto, a member providing a seat for said valve, a centrally arranged hub forming a guide for said valve stem, and relatively dee narrow arms connecting said hub with sai member togive maximum strength for a minimum reduction inart area.

In testimony whereo I have signed this specification.

JEAN V. GIESLER.

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