US1902757A - Acetylene generator - Google Patents

Description

R. ,A. BOLEY 1,902,757

ACETYLENE GENERATOR March 21, 1933.

2 Siieec.s-Sheet. 1

Filed June 13. 1928 a w //1 0 T4,

11v VENZOR v B I March 21, 1933. R A L Y 1,902,757

ACETYLENE GENERATOR Filed June 13, 1 928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 j zv (57/ 37 E A TTORNE Y5,

Patented Mar. 21, 1933 'UNITE'D-ST'ATES PATENrt OFFICE aos'rvnnnn enirnnnron Application filed June 13,

, This invention relates to acetylene gen erators and more particularly to. an improved reserve carbide hopper incorporated therein.

- Acetylene or carbide gas generators hav-' ing a main carbide hopper-and a reserve carbide hopper are well known in the art, and so is an indicating means to inform the user that the main carbide hopper is empty and that the contents of the reserve hopper is being used. The indication is usually a dimmingof the lights caused by a reduc-. tion in the pressure of the gas supplied by the generator. When only small quantities of carbide are successively released from the reserve hopper the dimming of the lights is either continuous or too free qucnt while the generator is operating on the reserve carbide supply; and if the total contents of the reserve hopper is released at one time the single accompanying indication may not be observed by the user and the carbide supply. may become exhausted during the hours of darkness when it is inconvenientzor even dangerous to recharge the generator. A metering device has been used to collect the carbide as it dribbles from. the reserve hopper and then deliver it to 'the'inain hopper in substantial quantities, but this device is delicate in construction and unreliable in op-,

eration. l

One of the objects of this invention is to so construct a reserve carbide hopper that only a portion of its total contents will be released at one time. Another object is-to provide a means for controlling the carbide outlet valve of the reserve hopper so it will open quickly and release a substantial quantity of carbide each time it is opened until the reserve hopper becomes empty. Further objects are to provide a better and cheaper construction, more/reliable operation, and a reserve hopper that may be easily installed in generatorsalready in service. i I

One construction wherein these and other objects are attain-ed is explained in the fol- I lowing description and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which:

upper part of acarbide 1928; Serial n. 235,084.

l ROY .A. BOLEY, or InnIAnAroLrs, IND ANA, iissrelvon r0 3'. noon." COMPANY, A

coRron-arioiv or new .Tnnsnr r a Fig. 1, is a vertical [section view of the p gas generator embodying thlSlIlVGIltlOll Fig,- 2,Jis anenlarged view of theim proved-reserve hopper and part of the' main hopper; and a a Figs.; 3 and '4 are side and top views; il-

lustrating features of the reserve hopper.

The "acetylene generator shown in Fig." 1, with which the reserve hopper comprising this invention is incorporated, is of a form well known in the art, the essential parts of which are an outer container casing 10 having a removable cover 11. Within the casing 10'is a vertically disposed cylinder 12 having; its lower edge connected with the innerwall of the casing 1Q by the flange 13 thereby fo'rminga" chamberl between the outer wall of the -c linder 12 and the inner wall of the container 10,.which contains water to seal the lower edge'of a: gas bell 15 arranged to move up and'downas the gas in the generator. increases and decreases. Within the cylinder;12is"a maincarbide hopper 16 having a carbideoutlet 17, at the apex ofthetapering bottom-thereof, which outlet is controlled-by a cone valve 18. The valve 18 is secured to a valve stem or feed rod 19 which extends' upward-through the main carbide hopper to a point where it maybe engaged bythe' descending bell '15 to open the carbide outlet- 17 to release carbide from' thehopper 16 into. water in the bottom of'the container 10, thereby creating a sufiicient quantity of gas to raise the bell. A pair of weighted leversQO are pivoted between their'ends on a pin 201 anchored in the sides of a closed mechanism box. B Within and nearthe-upper end of the main hopper16 as showninFigs'. 2 and 4. 'The valve "stem 19 extendsthru the box B and has a collar 21' rigidly secured thereto; The unweighted inner ends of the l'eversbear against the under side of the collar on op.- posite sides of the valve stem andnormally tend to raise the latter so that when the bell 15 rises the valve stem 19 lifts the valve 18 to close the carbide outlet 17. The feed rod 19 extends througha tube 191 which at its upper end opens into the box .B and its lower end into the apex of a stationary cone K that is secured to the inside of the main hopper directly above the outlet 17. This cone K has its lower edge spaced from the inside wall of the main hopper so as to permit carbide to flow to the outlet 17, and it also supportsthe carbide in the main hopper and takes its weight off the valve 18.

Furthermore, the cone .K cooperates with the sidewall of the main hopper to control the amount of carbide discharged from. the reserve hopper, as will be explained later. The gas which is generated within the generator and contained inthe bellmay be conducted by a pipe 22 to a filter 22 and by a pipe 23 from the filter to the service pipe supplying the gas consuming devices.

The improved reserve carbide hopper 24 is located inthe' main hopper,rand both of these hoppers are open at the top so that they may be charged with carbide at the same time. The reserve carbide hopper 2d is secured to one side of the 'box B and comprises side walls 25 and a tapering bottom 26.- One side of the bottom has a carbide outlet 27 which is normally closed by a swinging gate 28 that has ears 281 fitting against the sides of" the hopper 24. The

' gate 28 is hinged at its upper end, as by pivots 29 which extend through the ears 281 and the sides of the hopper 24.

' The gate 28 is normally held closed against the'weight of carbide in the reserve that the reserve supply is being used. When the main hopper again becomes empty another portion of the reservesupply will be.

automatically dumped into the main hopper,accompanied by a second flickering of the lights. The reserve supply is such that this operation is repeated from six to twelve times before the reserve supply is exhausted.

Thegate actuating and controlling mechanism may comprise a vertically movable release rod 30 that projects into the box B and is desirably parallel to the feed rod 19. The release rod 30 extends downwardly through a tube or shield .31 secured in an opening in the bottom 'of the box B and mounted in brackets 33 on the side of the hopper 24 below the box B. The lower end of the rod carries a rounded head or enlarge'ment'301 which normally engages the under side of a bracket or horizontal arm 34. formed integral with one of the ears 281 or otherwise rigidly secured to the gate. The rod 30 passes freely through holes in the lower bracket 33 and the bracket 34. and its head 301 is held against the bracket 3& by a helical spring 36 located inside the shield 31 and extending around the release rod 30 into the box B. The lower end of this spring rests on the lower bracket 33, and its upper end bears against the under side of a yoke 37 secured to the rod 30. The yoke 37 has a forked end 371 which partially surrounds the valve stem 19 at a distance below and in the path of the collar 21 but within the surfaces engaged by the levers 20. The tension of the spring 36 thus normally holds the rod 30 and the yoke 37 and their uppermost position and the gate 28' inits closed position. f

It will be understood that the main feed rod 19 has a certain freedom of movement downward to permit the valve '18 to function in a normal manner, which permits the main charge of carbide to feed from the main hopper without causing the reserve hopper to function. In orderto insure that the gate 28 shall open suddenly and sulfioiently wide to discharge a substantial quantity of carbide when the main chopper is empty, I provide an auxiliary or detaining spring side wall of the hopper 24 as at 39. This spring is coiled between its ends and then extends'downwardly lengthwise of the tube 31. A bend is formed in the lower free end 40 of the spring 38 to form a catch to receive the projecting edge of the bracket 34 38, one end of which is secured to the attached to the gate 28. The end 10 extends downwardly at an inclination to a point in line with the downward movement of the enlargement 301. The end is spaced from the enlargement and it is actuated thereby in a manner hereinafter described. I

During normal operation, when the generator is charged with carbide and water and connected to suitable gas consuming de vices it operates as follows: As gas is drawn from the delivery conduit 23 the gas bell 15 descends and as it approaches the lower limit of its movablerange the inner surface of the top of the bell strikes the top of the feed rod 19 and forces it and the valve 18 downward against the upward pressure of the weighted levers 20, thereby opening the carbide outlet 17 of the main carbide hopper 16 and releasing carbide from the main carbide hopper into the water in the container 1O. As the carbide encounters the water, gas is evolved which creates a pressure within the bell 15, forcing it upward. As the bell rises the weighted levers 20 bearing against collar 21 force the rod 19 and valve 18 upward thereby closing the carbide outlet 17 so no more carbide will be released moans from the mairrhopper'until the: bell again descends; This cycle of operation continues until the supply of carbide in the main care bidehopper 1 6 has become: exhausted..

When the. gas bellll5- again descends/miter the supplyof carbide in them-am hopper exhausted, itengages the top of the feed. rod 19 and terms it: downward as before; thereby opening the carbide outlet of the: main. carbide hoppers, As the mainv hopper is empty no carbide escapes to create gasto. raise the: bell, both the. bell and the rod 19 continueto descend. When the collar 21. on the descending rod 19 encounters the top of. the yoke 37", this. yoke and the rod 30 are. forced downward, together the parts already descending, against the: added resistance of the upward pressure of the spring 36. The resistance of the spring 36 momentarily retards the descent of the bell 15 and. reduces its eflective weight to such an. extent that. the gas pressure within the generator and the service pipes: is materially reduced thereby causing a. very noticeable temporary dimming of the lights: supplied. by the generator and this indicates to the observant. user that thesupply of carbide in the main. carbide hopper is exhausted and that the reserve supply attire carbide is about to be drawn upon. As; the rod 30 descends the spring 3,8 holds the gate 28 closedand delays-its release until. the head 301 on the lower end of the rod 30- engages the lower end 40 of the spring 38 and forces it out of engagement with the arm 34 on the gate 28., allowing the gate to suddenly open a substantial distance whereby a substantial quantity of carbide is quickly dumped by gravity from the reserve carbide hopper 24 into the main carbide hopper 16. The position of the reserve hopper outlet is desirably just above the usual stationary carbide supporting cone K in the main carbide hopper, and is so spaced from the wall of the main hopper as to assist in controlling the quantity of reserve carbide dumped into the main hopper.

.As the carbide outlet for the main hopper is open at the timecarbide is dumped'from the. reserve hopper, some of the dumped carbide passes directly through the outlet 17 into the water in the container lO'thereby generating a quantity of gas which raises the bell 15. The mechanism for releasing and reclosing the reserve hopper gate is so constructed and arranged that the short time interval elapsing, from the opening of the gate, while reserve carbide is descending to the water, and until suflicient gas is generated to raise the bell off the feed rod 19, will be suflicient to allow a oredetermined quantity (say, about a pounc of reserve carbide to discharge from the reserve hopper. As the bell rises the spring 36- forces the yoke 37 and the rod 30 upward until the spring 40 and the head 301 of the rod 30 have closed the, gate-2.8 by their upward pressure against: the edge and. under side o the arm 34 attached to the gate, the spr ng: 36 it elf being of such, strength. that it. will. r a ly close the gate against the entire Weight of carbide in the. reserve hoppen.

The gate 283 thus opens: morelrapldly than? the bell descends-and closes} as and at. -suhstantially the same speed that the bell ascends. As. the. bell. rises still. higherthe aotion of the weighted levers 2.0 against the In the meantime, the spring 36 has operated to reclose the gate against the weight of the remaining carbide in, the reserve hopper- .51.116. spring 38 with, its free 6Iltl3410 as well as: the res-tot. the gate-controlling mechanism are automatically restored to' their initial; position, ready to repeat the-operation. Itwill be evident that substantially the same. small quantityof carbide. will be dumped 'frQIn the reserve hopper every time the gate opens, beca se the time. interval. between the release of reserve carbidevand the generation of sum.- cientgas to. raise the bell'and permit the gate to reclose will be substantially constant.

When the supply of reserve. carbide dumped into the mainhopper is exhausted, the bell will again automati ally descend and similarly dump another quantity of carbide from-the. reserve hopper and at the same time the lights will flickerasalready described. This cycleof: operation will continue until the carbide is exhausted 'from both the main and reserve hoppers.

The arrangement of the reserve hopper so it. dumpsonly a portionof its total 0on5 tents when its outlet is opened is of con siderable importance. If thetotal contents of the reserve hopper were: dumpedat the first opening of the gate 28, the accompanying indication might be given during day light hours when a gas stove was being used, and, therefore, would probably not bombserved by the user. As a consequence the entire carbide supply might become exhausted during the hours ofdarkness when it was inconvenient or even dangerous to refill the generator. Butin the operation of the generator described herein; where the indication that the supply of carbide in. the generator is low is given several times, one or more *of the indications are quite sure to be given while lightsareburing, which flickering would "be observed'by the-user in time to refill the generator in daylight. The auxilary spring 38' is therefore-an important feature, especially where thegenerator is used forihouse lighting, for without such spring the gate 28 would be opened somewhat as soon as the release rod 80 moves down and a small quantity of carbide-would be fed" directly to the generating chamber. This-quantity would vary with the load carried by the generator and there would therefore be no signal to the user, since the carbide would dribble from the reserve hopper and the generator would function practically as it did when the main carbide supply Wasbeing used. v

The reserve carbide hopper is designed so the generator functions as though it contained no reserve hopper as long as there is carbide in the main hopper. v If the bell is ventedvery rapidly when the main hopper still contains carbide,the mass of carbide lying againstthe outside of the door will keep the latter closed even though the bell moves to its lowermost position. In that event the reserve hopper rod 30 and spring may be forced into carbide in themain hopper but will resume their normal positionlater without discharging carbide from the reserve hopper or in any way damaging Y the mechanism or interfering with its functionlater on. Accordingly, the gas bell may move to its lowermost position at any timewithout' injuring ordisarrang mg any of the operating parts of the generator, and when the bell again rises all operating parts are "automatically restored to their normal operating positions without requiring manual resetting or restoration. As long as thereis carbide in the main-hopper the outlet for the reserve hopper can not be opened even though the bell goes to an abnormally low position due; to a sudden venting-of gas from the generator, therefore, the supply of carbide in the reserve hopper remains intact until after the supply of-car- 7 hide in the main hopper is exhausted. This prevents the carbide supply from becoming exhausted through abnormal operating cona ditions'without indicating to the user that the supply is low. The improved reserve hopper may be incorporated with a generator when it is first assembled, or such hopper may be assembled as a unit and readily secured in place in the main hopper of an acetylene generator already in service. Various changes in the structure and arrangement of the apparatus shown herein may be made without departing from the invention.

I claim: a

1. In acetylene generator, the combination of a main carbide hopper; a gas bell;

a reserve carbide hopper comprising a discharge opening normally closed by a gate; mechanism operable by'said bell for opening said gate; mechanism operated by a yieldablemeansfor closing said gate against the 7 pressure thereon of the carbide in said hopper; and a device operable by said mechan lar fast on said rod; means bearing against ism to suddenly release said gate-to discharge reserve carbide into said mainhoper. 1 I p 2. In an acetylene generator, the combina-. tion of a reserve carbide hopper having a discharge opening normally closed by a gate; a main carbide hopper havingan outlet; a feed valve controlling said outlet; a movable operating rod for said valve; and mechanism for operating said gate compris ing spring means tending to hold saidgate in a closed position, a device depressible against the pressure of said spring means to release said gate, and means on said operating rod normally spaced from said device whereby said operating rod during part of its movement is adapted. to move independ: ently of said device and during another part of its movement is adapted to depress said device. r

3. In a carbide gas generator, the combination of a main carbide hopperhaving an outlet; a feed valve controlling said out let; an operating rod for said valve; a colsaid collar tending to lift said rod and valve; a reserve carbide hopper having a discharge opening normally closed by a gate; and mechanism whereby said gate is adaptedto be operated by said rod, such mechanism comprising a device connected to-said gate, an arm on said device engageable by said collar, a spring tending to move said device to close said gate, and a second springtending to close said gate but operable by said device to release the gate.

4. In an acetylene generator, 2, maincarbide hopper, means for intermittently discharging carbide therefrom until sa d hopper has been discharged; a reserve carblde hopper having an opening for mtermrt tently discharging carbide into ,the mam hopper when said main hopperls substantially empty; means for controlling said reserve discharge comprising a gate for said opening adapted to be retained in a closed position by the carbide in the main hopper, a' catch for retaining the gate in a closed position, yieldable means for actuating said gate to a closed position against the pres sure on said gate of thecarbide in said reserve. hopper and means responsive to a re duced pressure in the generator for actuating the yieldable means to the gate open position and to release said catch.

5. In an acetylene generator, the combination of a main carbide hopper; a gas bell; a reserve carbide hopper having a discharge opening therein; means for normallyclosing said opening; a catch for normally retaining said closure means in a closed position,

mechanism operated in response to the pres- 7 mechanism to restore said closure means to its normally closed position.

6. In an acetylene generator, the combination of a main carbide hopper; a gas bell; a reserve carbide hopper having a discharge opening therein; means for normally closing said opening; a catch for normally retaining said closure means in a closed position; a rod operated in response to the pressure in said gas bell to release said catch after a predetermined movement; and a yieldable means resisting the movement of said rod to release said catch and coacting with said rod to restore said closure means to its normally closed position against the weight of the carbide in said reserve hopper after a portion of said reserve carbide is released.

7. In an acetylene generator, the combination of a main carbide hopper; a gas bell; a reserve carbide hopper having an opening therein adapted to discharge carbide into said generator; a gate for said opening, said gate being adapted to be opened by the weight of the carbide thereon; a catch for retaining said gate in a closed position; a mechanism operated in response to the gas pressure in said gas bell for operating said catch to release said gate; a loss motion connection between said mechanism and said gate adapted to permit said mechanism to move a predetermined distance before releasing said gate and thereby permit said gate to freely open; a yieldable means conation of a main carbide hopper; a reserve carbide hopper comprising a normally closed gate; and mechanism adapted to suddenly releasesaid gate to dump a portion of the carbide in the reserve hopper into the main hopper. I

In testimony whereof, I afiix my signature.

' ROY A. BOLEY;

operating with said mechanism for actuating said gate to its closed position and said catch to its gate retaining positionupon discharging carbide from said reserve hopper.

8. In an acetylene generator, the combination of a main carbide hopper; a gas bell; a reserve carbide hopper having an opening therein adapted to discharge carbide into said generator; a gate for said opening, said gate being adapted to be opened by the weight of the carbide thereon; a catch for retaining said gate in a closed position in opposition to said yieldable force; a mechanism operated by said gas bell for operating said catch to release said gate; a loss motion connection between said mechanism and sald gate adapted to permit said mechanism to move a predetermined distance before releasing said gate and thereby permit said gate to freely open in response to said yieldable force; a yieldable means for resisting the descent of saidgas bell and thereby reducing the pressure within said gas bellg a yieldable means cooperating with said mechanism for actuating said gate to its closed position and said catch to its gate retaining position upon discharging carbide from said reserve hopper.

9. In an acetylene generator, the combination of a main carbide hopper; a reserve carbide hopper comprising a normally closed gate operable to dump carbide from said

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