US2223067A

US2223067A - Steam pipe arrangement for articulated locomotives

Info

Publication number: US2223067A
Application number: US265588A
Authority: US
Inventors: Lawrence W Hance; Jr Thomas E Herrick
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1939-04-01
Filing date: 1939-04-01
Publication date: 1940-11-26
Anticipated expiration: 1957-11-26

Description

Nov. 26, 19. L. w. HANCE ETAL STEAM PIPE ARRANGEMENT FOR ARTICULATED LOCOMOTIVES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 1, 1939- g V I 4 INVENTORS L. nweewce W. HnNcE ATTORNEY I. imam THOMAS E. HEEBICK dz.

N h 26, L. W. HANCE ETAL w fi STEAM PIPE ARRANGEMENT FOR ARTICULATED LOCOMOTIVES Filed April 1, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 1 ll l l l lllllaqlllllil ll l j INVENTORS LAWRENCE W. HaNcE. THoMns E. HEEEICK de.

ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 26, 1940 PATENT OFFICE STEAM PIPE ARRANGEMNT FOR ARTICU- v LATED LOCOMOTIVES Lawrence Hance, Philadelphia, and Thomas E.

. Herrick, Jr., Lan sclowne, Pa.

Application April 1, 1939, Serial No. 265,588

8 Claims.

This invention relates generally to articulated locomotives and more particularly to an improved steam pipe arrangement for conducting steam from the rear cylinders to the front cyl- '5 inders.

' In the general type of steam-pipe arrangement disclosed herein, steam is supplied 'to the rear cylinders through longitudinal supply pipes extending from the front end of the locomotive 10 boiler rearwardly alongside thereof to the rear pair of cylinders, these longitudinal pipes being cross-connected to a single longitudinal pipe which extends from the rear cylinder saddle forwardly to the front cylinders. "This general type 5 of piping arrangement has heretofore created serious difliculties arising out of expansion and contraction of the cross-over'steam pipe relative to the cooler cylinder structure and saddle, thus causing excessive strains and consequent cracks in the piping. Various arrangements have been suggested and used for overcoming this difliculty and while certain of these prior arrangements are effective in principle, yet the-specific nature of the structure heretofore employed to utilize such desirable principles has introduced additional difficulties. Such difficulties-have involved excessive weakening of the locomotive bed par ticularly when of the integrally cast type while insuflicient accessibility of the various elements for initial assembly or subsequent repair and inspection has made the cost of manufacture and maintenance excessive.

It is an object of my invention to-provide an improved steam pipe arrangement for articulated locomotives whereby the cross-over piping arrangement may be effectively connected to the single longitudinal supply pipe leading from the rear cylinder saddle to the front cylinders. A further object is to provide an improved crossover piping arrangement whereby the same may be connected in a simple and effective manner to a usual ball and socket housing which forms a part of the rear cylinder saddle and from which the main longitudinal steam supply pipe extends forwardly to the front cylinders.

Another object is to provide an improved crossover piping arrangement in combination with a common pipe extending through the rear cylinder saddle whereby the saddle structure has maximum strength While still allowing maximum flexibility of the piping during expansion and contraction thereof.

Other objects and advantages will be more apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description of the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic side elevation ofan articulated type locomotive employing my improved steam pipe arrangement;

' Fig. 2 is a transverse section taken substantially on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1 to show the crossover pipes in rear elevation;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the rear cylinder strucon the line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a transverse section taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal section taken on the line 66 of Fig. 2.

The articulated locomotive as shown in Fig. 1 has front and rear pairs of cylinders I and'2 mounted upon usual frames of the respective driving wheel units which are pivotally connected by a bar in a usual and well-known manner. Steam is supplied to the rear cylinders through a pairof steam supply pipes or conduits 3 and 4 extending rearwardly from the front end of the boiler alongside thereof for connection to Ts 5 and 6 which, in turn, are connected to the respective valve chests of the rear cylinders. The two longitudinal sides pipes are connected together at their rear ends, as through the rear legs ofsaid Ts, by a cross-over pipe enerally indicated at 1. This cross-over pipe has two identical sections 8 and 9 which, as shown in Fig. 3, are curved inwardly preferably along a wide' sweeping curve terminating in an inner straight portion for communication, Fig. 2, with oppositely extending V--1egs 8a and 9a of a central connection I0. As shown in Fig. 3 this connection has a T leg II secured to a central pipe l2 which extends forwardly through and freely of the saddle structure except for a rigid connection thereto at a ball and socket housing l3. The cross-over pipe sections 8 and 9, as shown in Fig. 2, are also inclined downwardly to the central saddle pipe l2 thereby insuring maximum lateral flexibility of the cross-over pipe during expansion and contraction relative to the cooler cylinder saddle.

The ball and socket housing I3 is formed preferably integrally with the front stretcher wall M of the rear cylinder saddle while a tunnel or other suitable opening liextends from the ball housing I3 entirely rearwardly through a rear stretcher wall- [6 of the cylinder saddle. The front end of pipe 12 may be welded to the housing l3,-this vv bility of the cross-over pipe sections 8 and 9-durbeing accomplished before the ball joint and packing I! is inserted in the housing. A pair of feet l8, formed on connection II], are longitudinally slidably supported upon a horizontal wall I9 of the bed frame 20 of the rear driving unit. As shown in Fig. 6, guide bolts 2! have shouldered portions rigidly secured to wall [9 and extend through suitable longitudinal guiding slots 22 formed'in the feet. Hence pipe l2 can freely expand longitudinally inasmuch as only the front end thereof is rigidly held and this expansion may be accompanied by maximum lateral flexiing expansion thereof.

Steam is conducted to the front cylinders through a main longitudinal steam supply pipe 23, Fig. 3, which is swivelly supported in 'the ball and socket housing I3.

Usual exhaust pipes

24 and 25 may be connected to the rear and front cylinders respectively but these do not enterintov my present invention. It will be noted as shown in Fig. 5 that the tunnel arrangement [5 permits longitudinal guide-ways 26'to besupported on the walls 21 of the tunnel l5. These guide-ways longitudinally slidably support a usual cross-head to which is connected a valve operating rod for the front cylinders. This central valve operating rod may have maximum movement without interfering in anyway with my improved cross-over piping arrangement.

A usual bar for connecting the articulated units may be disposed within a recess 28 formed in the rear cylinder saddle. The cross-over pipe sections 8 and. 9 are preferably connected to the Ts 5 and 6 and to the V-legs 8a and 9a through bolted flanges, if desired. 7

From the foregoing disclosure, it is seen that I have provided an extremely simple and effective cross-over piping arrangement for connecting the ends of the longitudinal side pipes 3 and 4 to the main longitudinal steam pipe 23 for supplying steam to the front cylinders. The cross-over piping arrangement has, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, maximum simplicity in its form as well as in its relation to the cylinder saddle, this simplicity insuring a high degree of flexibility during expansion and contraction of the crossover pipes in either longitudinal or lateral directions. Each section of the cross-over pipe has a simple curvature in plan view as shown in Fig. 3 while in rear elevation the sections respectively lie along substantially straight lines. The arrangement further permits a low initial cost in the manufacture of the particular simplified cross-over pipe sections, which broadlyincludes central saddle pipe l2 as part of the cross-over piping system, and also permits this system to be easily and effectively assembled with the rear cylinder saddle merely by moving the pipe l2 forwardly into tunnel l5 and into engagement with the ball and socket housing l3. This forward assembling movement insures minimum disturbance to the design and arrangement of the saddle walls thereby allowing the same to have maximum strength and low cost manufacture. I V

7 It will of course be understood that various changes in details of construction and arrangement of parts may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A high pressure steam pipe arrangement for articulated locomotives having a rear cylinder saddle provided with a pair of cylinders to which steam is supplied respectively through pipes extending longitudinally along the sides of the boiler and terminating in connections respectively rigidly secured to said rear cylinders, and

a forward pair of cylinders to which steam is supplied through a longitudinal pipe extending forwardly from the rear cylinder saddle comprising, in combination, alateral cross-over pipe rigidly connected at its ends to said rear cylinder connections for communication with said longitudinal side pipes, said cross-over pipe curv- -ing inwardly and downwardly toward the centerline of the locomotive so as to have lateral flexibility during expansion and contraction thereof, a pipe extending centrally through said saddle for communication with the forwardly extending steam supply pipe and connected to said crossoverpipe at an intermediate portion thereof, said saddle having provision whereby said central pipe is receivable in the saddle by being initially v insertable therein from the rear thereof,- and means for rigidly connecting'only the forward end of said central pipe to said saddle whereby said centralpipe may expand freely rearwardly relative to the saddle.

2,-The combination set forth in claim 1 further characterized in that said curved crossover pipe includes two curved pipe sections inclined downwardly toward the central saddle pipe for rigid connection thereto.

3. The combination set forth in claim 1 further characterized in that said cross-over pipe includes similarsections extending inwardlyand downwardly toward each. other, a connection having V-legssecured to the inner ends of said pipe sections and a horizontal T leg for connection to the rear end of said central saddle pipe.

4. A high-pressure steam pipe arrangement rigidly connected at its ends to said rear cylin derconnections for communication with said longitudinal side pipes, said cross-overpipe curving inwardly and downwardly toward the centerline of thelocomotive so as to have lateral flexibility during expansion and contraction thereof, a pipe extending centrally through said saddle for connection to the forwardly extending steam supply pipe and to said cross-over pipe at .an intermediate portion thereof, and means for rigidly connecting only the forward end of said central pipe to said saddle whereby said central pipemay expand freely rearwardly, said lateral cross-over pipe including a pipe section which in plan view curves inwardly from one of said longitudinal side pipes to the central saddle pipe while in rear elevation said pipe section lies along a substantially straight line. Y

5. A high-pressure steam pipe arrangement for articulated locomotives having a rear cylinder saddle provided with a pair of cylinders to which steam is supplied respectively through pipes extending longitudinally along the sides of the boiler and terminating in connections respectively rigidly secured to said rear cylinders, and a forward pair of cylinders to which steam a pipe extending centrally through said saddle is supplied through a longitudinal pipe extending forwardly from the rear cylinder saddle comprising, in combination, a lateral cross-over pipe rigidly connected at its ends to said rear cylinder connections for communication with said longitudinal side pipes, said cross-over pipe curving inwardly and downwardly toward the centerline of the locomotive so as to have lateral flexibility during expansion and contraction thereof, a pipe extending centrally through said saddle for connection to the forwardly extending steam supply pipe and to said cross-over pipe at an intermediate portion thereof, and means for rigidly connecting only the forward end of said central pipe to said saddle whereby said central pipe may expand freely rearwardly, said cross-over pipes including a pipe section which in plan view curves inwardly from one of the longitudinal side pipes and terminates in a substantially straight portion adjacent the central saddle pipe while in rear elevation said section lies substantially along a straight line.

6. A high-pressure steam pipe arrangement for articulated locomotives having a rear cylinder saddle provided with a pair of cylinders to which steam is supplied respectively through pipes extending longitudinally along the sides of the boiler and terminating in connections respectively rigidly secured to said rear cylinders, and a forward pair of cylinders to which steam is supplied through a longitudinal pipe extending forwardly from the rear cylinder saddle comprising, in combination, a lateral cross-over pipe rigidly connected at its ends to said rear cylinder connections for communication with said longi tudinal side pipes, said cross-over pipe having similar sections extending inwardly and downwardly for connection to each other in substantially opposed relation so as to allow lateral flexibility during expansion and contraction thereof,

for communication with the forwardly extending steam supply pipe, a horizontal T leg connecting said central saddle pipe to said cross-over pipe sections at the point of their opposed connection to each other, and means for rigidly connecting only the forward end of said central pipe to said saddle whereby said central pipe may expand freely rearwardly.

7. A high-pressure steam pipe arrangement for articulated locomotives havinga rear cylinder saddle and a pair of cylinders to which steam is supplied respectively through pipes extending rearwardly from the front of the boiler longitu-- dinally along the sides thereof and terminating in connections respectively rigidly secured to said rear cylinders, and a forward pair of cylinders to which steam is supplied through a longitudinal pipe extending forwardly from the rearcylinder saddle comprising, in combination, front and rear saddle stretcher walls the rear one of which has an opening therein and the front one of which has an integral ball and socket housing in which the rear end of said forwardly extending longitudinal supply pipe is swivelly supported, a pipe rigidly connected at its front end to said housing and extending freely rearwardly through the central portion of said saddle and through said opening in the rear stretcher wall thereof, and a branched pipe extending laterally from the rear end of said central saddle pipe for rigid connection to said longitudinal side pipes.

8. The combination set forth in claim 7 further characterized in that the front and rear stretcher walls of the saddle are connected by longitudinal walls to form a tunnel through which said saddle pipe freely extends.

LAWRENCE W. I-IANCE. THOMAS E. HERRICK, JR.