US1810709A - Locomotive - Google Patents

Description

`fune 16, 1931. H. L. INGt-:RsoLL LocoMoTIvE original Filed` Nov. 23,' 192s June 16, 1931.

H. L INGERSOLL LocoMoTIvE- Origial Filed Nov. 23, 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 vanter Juif@y 16, 1931. I H. L. INGERsoLL. 1,810,709`

LOGOMOTIVE Original Filed N0V 25. 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented June 16, 1931 .UNITED STATES;-

@reise- HoWAnn L.`11vennsoLLr,oF STAM-FORD, CONNECTICUT LOooiyroTrvn t originai applicati@ inea Novembef 2,3,y 1923', serial Neef/6,497.- nivia'aam uns applicaties fiieaj ,november ae, 192e.

My invention` relates to Asteaml locomotives and the like, andis more especially concerned with increasing" their power, aefhcieney and life, and, at the same time, in saving wear and 5 tea-r on rails and equipment. I have discovered that greatly increased efficiencyand power can be secured without vcorresponding increase in size and weight, by employing a yspecial ydrive or transmission between the -10 prime movers or engines and the drive wheels, instead ofthe usual directconneetions, and using substantially higher boiler pressures than heretofore.V `By means of aA steam-electric drive, Il can overcome the practical limi- "15 tation on boiler pressure'heretofore'imposed by the limitedv adhesion of drive wheels to track under a given d eadweight load e., the factor ofadhesion, as it is commonly termed), so that 'I am enabled, withsuitable boiler construction, to employ Vvery high steam pressures and temperatures indeed:

g., double or treble the present working pressure of about 200 lb. per sq. in.

The increase in power and efficiency obtain- 25 able by such highboiler pressures willl readily be appreciated by steam engineers.. U,The

electric drive is well adapted to such pressures (as 'already intimated) for several reasons: e. g., it gives uniform torque at thel driv- `3`0 ers; its flexibility allows the drivers tobe ofthe most advantageous sizes, and lpermit's drivers and prime movers to operate at the speeds most favorable for each; andit allows" anyor evenall the wheelsiof locomotive and the torque that must be utilized at each without slippage,,-especially in starting.

In other words, a drive or transmission that r' tender toube used-as drivers',and thus reduces` 'Y ers and drivers to operate at different speeds f Serial No. 150,(105.

been impossiblev heretofore to ymakeuse of very high boiler pressures', for the reason that,- as' the pressure increases, the torque 1ncreases, especially in starting, and a too greatly increased pressure"means a slipperymlocoinotive. f Of course, the factor of adhesion can be and has `been raised by increasingthe weight on the' drivers, but this processhas about reached'its limit.` Y' V I overcome the difficulty, as indicated, by using a steam electric drive with veryihigh boiler pressure(v vIn this way, thefaetor of eoV adhesion will not be affected, as it were',by

the high boiler pressure, use a pressure which would'normally cause slippage in any old type locomotive withY directreciprocating drive.

Y I prefer'to use a turbineorturbines to generate the current because they eliminate reciprocating motion, and, thus, save wear and l In other words, I

areciprocating engine when using steamat t ordinary pressures.L The condenser, for v,a

Vlocomotive ofv a few `hundred horsepower would not be preposterous',but onefor a 3500 horsepowerlocomotive would be entirelyouty of the question.' `The amount of water requiredto 'condense for such a machine-'Would be tremendous,`or if,'on the other hand, an arr cooledcondenser were-adopted, it would take several 'car loads of pipe racks. j

Furth@rmore,r by my invention, I am enabled touse the eiliaust steam from the turl bine for draft purposes, a feature which, of course,'would be; impossible with low pressur turbines` and condensers. *In yorderl to deriver theH fullest advantage from the'high boiler pressure,'I also aim'to enable such high pressure 'to befcarried without making theboyiler shell,` etc., excessively thick and heavy. l`Ifalso aim to adapt vthe lo- Y comotive to operation with fuel burned' in suspension V`f(`such as oil) in a novel manner.

The use of oil as fuel favors the compactness of steam generating plant so essential in a locomotive. In the case of a boiler of the general Scotch drum type, such as hereinafter particularly shown and described, the use of such fuels, as above mentioned, favors reduction in the diameters of combustion flues and fire-tubes, so as to stand the high pressure without excessive thickness and weight.

How all these and other advantages can be realized through my invention will appear from my description hereinafter of the best embodiment known to me, comprising a turbo-electric locomotive equipped with my preferred type of boiler adapted for pressures of 400 to 600 lb. per sq. in. or upward.

In the drawings zy Fig. 1 is a side view of such a. locomotive conveniently embodying my invention.

Fig. 2v shows a vertical fore and aft midsection through the boiler of the locomotive shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 shows a transverse section through the boiler at the firing end, taken as indicated by the line 3-3 in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary head-on view of the locomotive, with certain parts broken away and in section, as indicated by the line 4.-4 in Fig. 2.

Referring, first, to Fig. 1, it will be seen that the locomotive shown is of the general turbo-electric t-ype set forth in my pending application, Serial No. 556,228, filed April 24, 1922, now Patent No. 1,615,454, granted January 25th, 1927. This locomotive comprises a boiler 10 mounted on interconnected vehicles or carriages 11. Each of these vehicles 11 comprises a couple of wheel trucks 12 and 13 with radius bar interconnection. The tender 14 that carries the supplies of water and fuel is similarly mounted on another carriage 11. As shown, similar ends of all adjacent vehicles 11 are interconnected. The foremost radially or laterally swinging trucks 13 of locomotive and tender lead, and the rear swinging truck 13 of the locomotive trails. Driving motors 15 are mounted on the axles of all the loaded wheels of locomotive andY tender. Thesemotors 15 may be operated by current taken from anl ordinary trolley or third rail system by overhead trolley 16 or third rail contact shoes 17; or they may be operated by current from generators 2O driven by steam turbines 21 through reduction gearing 22. As shown, these latter parts 20, 21, 22, are all mounted on the platform of the forward vehicle 11, the turbines 21 ahead of the boiler 10, and the generators 2O and gearing 22 at either side. (See Fig. 4.) The turbines 21 take steam from the boiler 10 through piping equipped with regulators 23, such as shown in my aforesaid application. The locomotive is here'indieated as equipped for firing with oil supplied from the tender 14 thro-ugh flexible pipes 24. Referring, now,

more especially to Figs. 2, 3 and 4, it will be seen that my improved boiler 10 here shown is of a modified Scotch drum type, comprising a main drum 25 with outer shell 26, helically corrugated combustion lues 27 in its lower portion, and return tubes 28 above the flues. The flues 27 and the tubes 28 may be expanded in the tube sheets 29 and flanged over to serve as stays; and stay rods 31 may be provided for areas of the sheets 29 around the lues and outside the tubes. If necessary, some tubes 28 may be installed above the usual level, with stay rods 31 within them; or some of the tubes 28 above the water level may simply be plugged off, as at 32, to leave them dead7 and prevent their burning out. As shown, the flue sheets 29 are curved or dished inward, Vto strengthen all areas not stayed by the tubes 28 or the rods 31.

Being lired with fuel burned in suspension instead of on grates, the flues 27 need not be so large as in ordinary Scotch boilers; e. g., they may be about 20 inside diameter, and the lues 28 about 31/2. The outer shell 26 may be of steel plate corresponding in thickness to present practice for pressures of 200 lbs. or more, and may be externally girdled with steel wire reinforcement 33 of high tensile strength, to enable it to stand the much higher pressures that I contemplate. This reinforcement may be applied by placing the boiler in centers and winding the wire 33 on it (very much as in the manufacture of heavy ordnance), suitably securing the ends of the wire to the shell, as by welding the end convolutions. To avoid interference with the wire 33, the seams of the shell 26 may be butt seams with butt straps 34 on the inside, as shown, and the external rivet heads 35 may be countersunk. For like reasons, all fittings and connections may preferably be applied to the end sheets 29.

In the present instance, the boiler 10 is arranged to be fired from the rear end of the locomotive, by oil burning apparatus comn prehensively indicated at 36; the combustion chamber 37 is at the front; and there is a smoke box 38 at the rear, t-o receive the products of combustion issuing from the return tubes 28. To make the locomotive conform to ordinary practice, the products of combustion may be led forward fro-inthe smoke box 38 through a ca sing 39 extending along the main drum 25, to a stack 40 above the combustion chamber 37; instead of discharging directly from the smoke box itself.

A draft is created, for example, by means of a suction fan 76 inthe stack 40, which fan is driven preferably by means of a small turbine 77 conveniently located on some portion of the adjacent boiler structure. The exhaust steam from the turbines 21 is utilized through the conduit 78 to operate the fan. The stack is `reversely curved, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, in order to provide an arrangement which will make possible a horizontal disposition of the direct drive shaft V79. However, other fan arrangements might be employed equally well, and it is not my intention to limit the invention to this precise construction.

As shown in Figs. 2 and 4, there is a sepa-Y rate smoke conduit 4l in the casing 39; and

an air supplyfconduit 42 for the burners 36' extends rearward around this smoke conduit 41 from a grated intake 43 at the fro-nt of the locomotive and of the casing 39 Figs. 2 and 4). There is a separate steam drum 45 connected to the main drum 25V at either end by U-bent connections 46 taking into the ends of both drums.

The combustion chamber 37- is shown as consisting of a rounded metal shell with refractory lining of fire bricks 47. Against the inside of the latter are a series of water circulating tubes 48 bent in substantially ver` tical planes,with their lower and upper ends secured in the outer Zone of the flue sheet 29, below the fiues 27 and above the fire tub-es 28. As shown, the outer Zone of the flue sheet 29 that takes the tubes 48 is reinforced and strengthened with a sheet metal band 49. The tubes 48 not only help the steaming of the boiler, but also cool and protect the combustion chamber lining 47 against erosion or slagging. In the present instance, the smoke box 38 consists simply of a sheet metal shell without refractory lining: it is provided with clean-outy openings 51 in its bottom, and with a conveniently located manhole 52.

Asr shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4, the steam is led ofi' from the drum 45 through a throttle 53 in the latter and a pipe 54 extendingout through the drum side. Preferably, the steam is superheated before being led to the turbines 21, in order to improve the efliciency of operation still more by thehigher teniperature, etc. To avoid slagging troubles in the case of powdered fuel, and excessive thickness of flues, the superheater"employed is preferably located in the smoke boX 38 rather than in enlarged fire-tubes, as is the usual locomotive practice. Accordingly, the

saturated steam pipe 54 extends rearward in the casing 45 to a superheater located in the midst of the smoke box 38, right in the path of the products of combustion issuing from the flues 28. VAs shown, the superheater 55 is of the closed end and internal circulating tube type. steam is led forward through ra pipe 56 in the casing 45 to the regulators 23 andthe turbines 2l. After passing amongst the super-heater tubes, theV products of combustion rise to the opening of the downward and rearward curved smoke conduit 4 1.

Preferably, the feedwater from theftender 14 is led forward through a iexible connecf tion 57 to a feedwater heater 58 in the smoke From it, the superheated' boXBS. vAs shown,i the feedwater heater 58 is double, consisting of headers 61, 62,-and

interconnecting curved tubes 63 at either side ofthe superhea'ter. The water enters the upper headers 61, passesdown through the tube banks 63 in parallel, and. passes from the'lower headers 62 to the rear end of i (Figs. andv 3), the smokebox :38 not only encloses the rear ends of the return tubes 26 and extends up to the top of the casing 39 (whence it is separated a plate. 65), but also extends `down over the rear ends of the flues27, and'evenv below thevbottom of the drum 25. Thus, theburners't) are virtually in the smoke boxBS. As here shown, the bur-ner apparatus` 36 comprises,` for each flue 27, a suitably valved fuel pipe 66 andan air pipe 6 7 extending across the smoke box 38 from its rear wall and discharging directly into the rear end of the Hue. There are also supplemental air sup-ply pipes 68 extending forward in each flue 27 to'suitable outlets 69. As shown, each of the pipes 68 is flattened to an'arcuate cross-section within the flue 27so as toliejsnug in itsbottom and obstruct the iue as little as possible, and there may be a number of them .for each flue arranged Vto discharge at different points along the .from the motion o-f the locomotive when the latter is' running slow, standing still, or backing. 1

Attention is directed tothe fact that Athis yum application isa division of my earlier application, Serial Nol 676,497, filed November 23, 1923, and that, in the present application,

noV claims are made to the details of the boiler structure disclosed, sincesuch subject matter- Vis being claimed in the parent application. f

`What I claim in the present case is :-y l. In a locomotive, the combination of va plurality of driving axles with their wheels',`

f is high enough to overcome the necessity for using a condenser;

2. In a locomotive, the combination of` a plurality of driving axles with their'wheels,

electric motors therefor, an kelectric genera-v tor, asteam turbine for driving the generator, and a boiler for producing steam at a pressure upwards of 400 pounds whereby to run the turbine at an efficiency point which is high enough to overcome the necessity for using a condenser, together with draft creating means for the boiler utilizing exhaust steam from said turbine.

3. In a locomotive, the combination of a plurality of driving axles with their wheels, electric motors therefor, an electric generator, a steam turbine, speed reduction mecha.- nism connecting the turbine and the generator, and a boiler for producing steam at a pressure upwards of 400 pounds whereby to run the turbine at an elliciency point which is high enough to overcome the necessity for using a condenser.

4. A high pressure steam locomotive in which the factor of adhesion is unaffected by the boiler pressure, said locomotive including in combination, a plurality of driving axles with their wheels, electric motors therefor, an electric` generator, a high-speed, highefficiency steam power means for driving said generator', and a boiler for producing steam at a. pressure upwards of 400 pounds whereby to run said power means at an eficiency point which is high enough to overcome the necessity for using a condenser.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name.

HOW/'ARD L. INGERSOLL.

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