US2270659A

US2270659A - Oxygen supply control mechanism

Info

Publication number: US2270659A
Application number: US333964A
Authority: US
Inventors: Paul F Meyn
Original assignee: GAERTNER SCIENTIFIC CORP
Current assignee: GAERTNER SCIENTIFIC CORP
Priority date: 1940-05-08
Filing date: 1940-05-08
Publication date: 1942-01-20
Anticipated expiration: 1959-01-20

Description

Jan. 20, 1942. P. F. MEYN OXYGEN SUPPLY CONTROL MECHANISM I Filed May 8; 1940 l iNQ ENTOE PaaZ F/Vqg/z.

Illlllllllfllllllll I: rfllllrrlrlr Patented Jan. 20, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE OXYGEN SUPPLY CONTROL MECHANISM- Paul F. Meyn, Chicago, Ill.,' assignor to The Gaertner SclentiflcCorporation, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application May 3,1940, Serial No. 333,934 I The present invention relates to an improved type of apparatus for the automatic control of the oxygen supply of a respiration system designed for use in airplanes at high altitudes.

In the control of an oxygen supply for respiratory purposes at high altitudes where the natural content of the oxygen in the air is insufllcient for respiratory needs the quantity of oxygen will depend upon the altitude but the dependence is not necessarily a direct relationship,

and a principal object of the present invention is the provision of an improved type of automatic oxygen supply control apparatus which will. provide the proper supply of oxygen to meet with individual needs regardless of altitude and to further provide for the supply of this quantity of oxygen to any particular number of users'from a. single source.

A further object of the inventionis to provide oxygen supply control equipment which operates in part in accordance with the altitude and in .part'in accordance with the amount of oxygen being consumed, or, in other words, in accordance with the number of persons usingthe oxygen supply at any particular time.

An additional object is the provision of oxygen supply control equipment having a primary actuating mechanism independent of atmospheric pressure to provide in the oxygen supply manifold a substantially constant absolute pressure regardless of the altitude or the number of users from the supply manifold and a secondary actuating mechanism responsive to altitude changes for augmenting the supply of oxygen provided by the primary actuating mechanism by varying the absolute pressure in the supply manifold in accordance with altitude changes.

These and other objects will be observed upon consideration of the following specification and by reference tothe accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a bottom view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 3;

Fig. 2 is Fi 3;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along line H of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 4-4 of'Fig. 1. v In the apparatus shown in the drawing the housing It has communicating with it the supa top View of thefapparatus shown in 4 Claims. (Cl. 137-153) seat I! is depresseddownwardly, oxygen is free to pass through the channel l2and the port It.

The internal frame member in which the valve structure is housed provides an upper compartment 2| and a lower compartment 22. The upper portion of compartment 2| is closed by a flexible diaphragm 23 which is maintained in position by the cap 24, the latter being screwed about the housing Ill. The diaphragm 23 andthe plate 25 which supports it are presseddowm wardly by a spring 26 mounted within the cap 24.

The tension on the spring 26 is determined by adjustment of the set screws 21, as will be seen fin Fig. 3.

I upper portion of chamber 30 and is pressed in ply line I I from a compressed oxygen tank. This supply line communicates through a channel ii of an internal-frame memberwith a primary valve. This primary valve includes a valve with its end portion pressing upwardly against From the underside of the plate 25 and .dia-

V phragm 23 there extends a valve opening stem 28.

The lower end of the valve opening stem 28 presses against the upper face of the valve seat II with a pressure determined by the pressure within the compartment 2| and the action of the spring 26. It will be understood that the construction of the stem 28 is such that oxygen may pass about it-in issuing from .the valve;

Adjacent the primary valve chamber I3 is a secondaryvalve chamber 30, the latter communieating with the chamber 2| through the vent 3|.

A valve stem 32 extends downwardly from the downwardly biased position by means of a spring 33 The lower end of stem 32 is provided with a valve seat 34 which bears against the port end of the lower valve sleeve 35. It will be seenthat this valve is similar in construction to the cons'truction of the primary valve except that it is in inverted position. The valve seat 34 presses downwardly against the open port of sleeve 3 to prevent passage of oxygen through the valve. nislodgement or the seat 34 allows oxygen to pass from the chamber 2|, through channel 3|. about seat 34 and through the member 35 to chamber 22. valve opening rod ll similar to the stem 28 is positioned within the member 35 the valve seat 34. The rod 36 acts against the pressure of the oxygen in chamber 2! and against the action of the spring 33. The extent of the dislodgement of the seat 34 therefore depends upon the upward pressure of the rod 36 and this in turn determines the amount of oxygen pass-' ing through the valve.

The lower portion of chamber 22 is closed by a rigid partition 31 through which the lower end of the rod 36 extends. On the upper side of the partition 31 is mounted a Venturi-like cap member 38. This 'cap member opens on its underside beneath the partition member 31 and in direct communication with the aneroid chamber 39. The upper portion of the cap 38 is of bullet shape and contains openings 40. Surrounding the cap 38 and slightly spaced therefrom is a sleeve 4|. The sleeve 4| communicates with an oxygen dispensing line 42. Line 42 normally will extend adjacent the occupants of the plane and will be supplied with a plurality of individual dispensing units 43. Those dispensing units 43 which are not in use will be closed by a suitable valve.

Below the housing I is a secondary aneroid housing 44 which is shown screwed into a flange 45 on the housing I0, a suitable sealing ring 46 being employed to provide a pressure-tight connection. Extending across the housing 44 in a plane spaced somewhat below the partition 31 is a partial partition 41 which has a central opening across which extends a flexible pressuretight diaphragm 48. Partition 31, partition 41, diaphragm 48 and diaphragm 52 form the aneroid compartment 39, and it will be noted that this compartment 39 is not open to the atmosphere.

Within the compartment 39 is positioned an aneroid 49 which has an upper coupling member 50. The member 50 has a central opening into which the connection is rigidly fitted, the connection 5| also being attached to a flexible pressure-tight diaphragm 52 extending across the upraised portion 53 of the partition 31. The lower end of the valve-actuating stem 36 abuts the connection member 5|. Expansion of the aneroid 49 upon a decrease in pressure in the chamber 39 causes the coupling 50 and connection 5| to move upwardly, thereby pressing the' valve-actuating stem 36 upwardly to release the valve seat 34 and to permit oxygen to flow through the valve mechanism. The amount of the oxygen flow released in this manner will depend upon the pressure within compartment 39.

The lower portion of aneroid 49 is provided with a coupling 54 which engages the coupling 55 of the flexible diaphragm 48. Coupling 55 also extends downwardly into connection with a second aneroid 56 which is positioned in the chamber 51 provided by housing 44, partial partition 41, diaphragm 48, and a bottom insert 58. The lower portion of the aneroid 56 is rigidly connected by means of the extension 59 to the bottom of the housing as shown in Fig. 3. Compartment 51 is open to the atmosphere through the vents 60 in the side of housing 44. The rigid connection provided by the member 59 beneath the aneroid 56 results in the vertical rise and fall of both the aneroids 49 and 56 to effectively operate the .valve opening stem 36. The aneroid 56 operates directly in accordance with the atmospheric pressure while aneroid 49 operates independently of atmospheric pressure.

Below the bottom member 58 is an indicating and adjustment housing 63 which is provided with four-corner flanges 64. The flanges 64 extend upwardly in the manner shown in Fig. 4 and are rigidly connected to flanges 65 on the housing In by means of the bolts 66. The housing 63 also carries an extension 61 through which is mounted the rotatable shaft 68. On the outer end ofv the shaft 68 is provided a hand screw 69 and on the inner end of the shaft is provided a gear 10 which meshes with the gear 62 of the bottom member 58, as shown in Fig. 3; The housing 63 is rigidly attached to the housing l0 and rotation of the hand screw 69 causes rotation of the bottom member 58 through gear 62 to provide for the vertical adjustment of the bottom member. Since the bottom 58 is rigidly connected to the lower portion of the atmospheric aneroid 56 by means of the connection 59, raising the bottom member 58 will result in the more effective operation of the aneroid with respect to raising the valve lifting stem 36.

Attached to the underside of the bottom member 58 is a flexible metallic strip 1| which has a dial portion 12 positioned adjacent the opening 13 of the partition member 14. The dial portion 12 is graduated in terms of altitude in such a manner as to show the minimum altitude at which the aneroid 56 will effect operation of the valve releasing stem 36. Thus, the hand adjustment screw 69 may be regulated to initiate the oxygen release at an altitude of 10,000 feet or 12,000 feet, as will be indicated to the operator by the member 12 which rotates with it. Since the aneroid 56 is open to the atmosphere through ports 68 it exerts a valve releasing action which is directly dependent upon the altitude.

a, The bottom 580i compartment 51 is screwed "into the lower end of housing 44 by means of The housing 63 is provided with a sight'glass 15 which may be retained in position by means of a ring 16.

In Figs. 1 and 3 there is shown an indicating hand 16 which operates about graduations on the partition 14. This indicating hand may be operatively connected through conventional mechanism (not shown) for indicating the pressure in the oxygen supply tanks.

In operation, the oxygenfrom supply line passes through channel l2 and the primary valve and into compartment 2| where there is maintained a predetermined superatmospheric pressure. From compartment 2| the oxygen passes through port 3| and the secondary valve and into compartment 22. From compartment 22 the oxygen passes through the sleeve 4| and into the oxygen dispensing line or manifold 42.

The amount of oxygen released from the manifold 42 will depend upon the number of the individual units 43 which are open and to some extent upon the differential pressure between the manifold and the atmosphere. That is, as higher altitudes are reached, the resulting increased differential will cause increased flow through the units, but the absolute pressure in the manifold will remain unchanged. With increased consumption of oxygen there will be-an increased flow of oxygen through the sleeve 4|. This flow of oxygen past openings 46 of member 38 causes a decrease in pressure in the chamber 39 which causes an expansion of the aneroid 49, whereby the valve-actuating stem 36 is pressed upwardly an increasing amount to release further oxygen from'the chamber 2f|. As the pressure within chamber 2| decreases the valve-actuating stem 28 is pressed downwardly against the valve seat l1 and the latter is pushed into opened position sumciently to allow the passage of oxygen into the chamber 2| through the channels l2. Restoration, of the predetermined pressure within primary chamber 2| insures adequate flow of oxygen from this chamber through the secondary valve and into the secondary chamber 22.

Thus, if an additional unit 43 is opened there will result an increased flow of oxygen to maintain the supply at the proper amount. This proper amount will be the same for'each of the units regardless of the number of units in operation. Since the dispensing units 43 have the same size dispensing orifices, the controlled 'oxygen pressure insures the same flow through each dispensing unit regardless of the number of users. If all of the units 43 are in operation the relatively rapid flow of oxygen through the sleeve 4! and into the outlet conduit 42 will produce such a pressure condition within the chamber 39 as to provide the-same unit flow of oxygen for each of the members 43 as whereonly one or two of such units are in operation. l

a primary pressure compartment, means forestablishing and maintaining a predetermined pressure in said primary pressure compartment,

a secondary pressure compartment, a valve between said compartments, means sealed from atmospheric pressure and responsive to a decrease in pressure in said secondary compartment for opening said valve, and an aneroid subject to atmospheric pressure for augmenting the action of said last named means.

i 2. A device. of the type described, comprising actuated by said aneroid for opening said valve,

Inlet line H is under the greatest pressure within the device. The chamber 2| is under less pressure than the supply line H and the chamber 22 is under less pressure than the chamber 2|, thereby providing a three-stage pressure mechanism.

Augmenting the action of the primary aneroid 49 is the action of the secondary atmospheric aneroid 56. Regardless of the action of the aneroid 49, which compensates for the number of users by maintaining a controlled absolute pressure in chamber 22, the aneroid 56 will supand an atmospheric aneroid augmenting the action of said first named aneroid.

, 3. A'device of the type described, comprising a primary pressure compartment, a secondary pressure compartment, means for maintaining a predetermined pressure in said primary pressure compartment, a valve between said primary pressure compartment and said secondary'pressure compartment, a primary aneroid compartment the manifold and the atmosphere even without the action of the atmospheric aneroid, this in-, crease is less than consumption requirements. The action of the atmospheric aneroid, then, is to boost the basic absolute pressure established by the primary aneroid so as to supply this de-.

, ficiency. By maintaining in the manifold the independent of atmospheric pressure, an outlet compartment to said outlet line, a primary aneroid in said primary aneroid compartment, connecting means between said aneroid and said valve, a secondary aneroid compartment exposed to atmospheric pressure, a secondary aneroid in said last named compartment, connecting means between said aneroids whereby the action of said primary aneroid is augmented by the action of said secondary aneroid, and means for adjusting the position of said secondary aneroid.

4. In a device of the type described, a primary pressure chamber having a flexible diaphragm.

a secondary compartment free from atmospheric;

pressure, a secondary valve, a secondary responsive means contained in said secondary compartment in actuating relationship with said sec- .ondary valve, a flexible seal for sealing said secsive means.

- PAUL F. MEYN,