US2288132A - Ozone generator - Google Patents

Description

June 30, 1942. H. B. HARTMAN OZONE GENERATOR 'Filed sept. 5o, 1959 /fff/ l 1M Amt Alun glu/uvm I HB. Hal-Vilain Patented June 30, 1942 OZONE GENERATOR Harry Buxton Hartman, Florence, Mass.

Application September 30, 1939, Serial No. 297,399

2 Claims.

This invention relates to ozone generators and is a continuation in part of my application, Serial No. 74,987 filed April 17, 1936, now Patent Number 2,205,831 patented June 25, 1940.

A primary object of the invention is to provide a novel, highly eiicient ozonizing unit. That is to say, it is proposed to provide a gas-lilled tube whose exterior surface is only partially covered with an external grid, thereby obtaining greater generating eiciency and longer life of the apparatus. It has been determined by experiment and practice that a perforated metal envelope or a gauze wire completely encircling a gas-filled tube causes excessive heating of the tube with consequent rapid deterioration of both the tube and gauze. However, this disadvantage is overcome by the present invention because practically no heat is developed due to the fact that a portion of the surface of the tube is not covered by the grid and therefore the entire tube remains relatively cool.

Another object of the invention is to provide'a tube having a plurality of legs which may be individually provided with gauze tubes or mantles in such a way that a given tube may be caused to produce a quantity ofV ozone in proportion to the number of mantles. That is to say, it is proposed to provide a grid like mantle which is of substantially cylindrical form and open at one side so as to be pressed over a selected leg of the tube and held thereto by suitable clamps if desired, or by lacing the free edges of the mantle together with a strand of the same material as the mantle itself. If, for example, the tube has four legs and the capacity of the apparatus requires the production of ozone in a quantity produced by the operation of four mantles, all may be used. On the other hand, if it is desired to produce ozone through the use of only one mantle, the remaining mantles may be readily detached by simply removing the clamps and pulling the mantles from the other legs of the tube. It will, of course, be understood that the individual mantles may be electrically connected when used in multiple so as to assure the proper feeding of current thereto.

A further object of the invention is to provide a grid or mantle construction wherein the mantles intended for each tube are connected by a meshed web so as to provide in eifect a continuous grid of considerable area.

With the above and other objects in View which will more readily appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described, illustrated and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein like characters of reference denote corresponding parts in the `diferent views:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a tube equipped with an individual grid or mantle.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the mantle or grid shown in Fig. 1.

Figure 3 is a perspective View of one of the clamps or clips which may be used for holding the grid or mantle to a leg of the tube.

Figure 4 is an elevation illustrating a portion of the tube shown in Fig. l and a continuous type of mantle.

Figure 5 is an enlarged horizontal cross-section taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Figure 6 is a detail side elevation of the upper portion of one of the ends of the continuous mantle or grid shown in Figs. 4 and 5.

Similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several gures of the drawing.

Referring to the drawing, it will be observed that the ozonizing unit preferably consists of a tube designated generally as A of glass or other suitable dielectric material which is bent to provide a plurality of legs I, 2, 3 and d, connected together at their tops and bottoms by intermediate U-shaped portions. The legs I, 2, 3 and 4 are preferably disposed in parallel spaced apart relationship in a common plane and the lower ends of the legs I and 4 are closed and provided with suitable electrodes Ia and da. It will, of course, be understood after the tube has been evacuated of air it is filled with a rare gas or blend of gases having low electrical resistance, such for example, as neon, argon, mercury or the like. To adapt the tube A to be mounted on a support, such as the support 5, the lower end portions of the outermost legs I and 4 are equipped with metal terminal pieces enabling them to be fitted in the terminal cups 6 and 1 carrie-d by the support 5.

As shown in Fig. 1, the leg 3 of the tube A may be provided with a mantle or grid designated generally as B and shown in detail in Fig. 2. This mantle consists of a sheet of flexible woven wire cloth 8 which is formed, preferably, from stainless steel, aluminum or the like, and which may be aptly described as comprising a series of interlaced strands forming a mesh of Suitable size. The mantle or grid thus formed is bent into substantially cylindrical shape having the free edges Bl and B2 which may be forced apart as the mantle is applied. While there may be sufficient resiliency in the grid to enable the same to frictionally hold itself to the tube, nevertheless, it is preferred to positively clamp or secure the grid to the leg of the tube through the use of any suitable expedient, such for example, as the spring clamp or clip C shown in Fig,V 3. These clips are merely pieces of at spring metal having resilient arms which may be pressed over the mesh in such a way as to cause it eiectually to contract and engage the tube. Clips may be used at the top, bottom and intermediate portions of the mesh grid or mantle,

which may be used individually Yor in multiple when properly connected. In other words, a

single mantle may be placed on`one of the legs,

or if all of the legs are provided with lindividual mantles any one or more of them may be removed by simply removing the spring clamps C and pulling the mantle or grid away from the tube so that the tube will pass through the free edges of the mantle when the latter is pulled away therefrom. It will, of course, be understood that if the laced strand type of holding means is used it will be necessary to cut the strands before the mantle can be removed.

The advantage of using individual mantles is, as previously indicated, to control the amount of ozone generated by the tube. That is to say, a tube of standard design, Yfor example, of the type shown in Fig. 1 may be used for all types of installations, but only a sufcient number of mantles or grids are used to obtain the required ozone capacity for the machine. In this way, a single rheostat can be used for any type of installation. Even thoughl a single rheostat is employed for a single mantle, too much ozone cannot be generated for a given machine. On the other hand, even though more than one mantle is used, a single rheostat will be suicient to control the current to the mantles but a proportionally greater quantity of ozone will be produced. Therefore, the feature of providing individual grids or .mantles has advantages from the standpoint of manufacture, as well as economy of installation. I

According to the construction shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6, the mantle or grid consists of a sheet of exible woven wire cloth 9 which is also preferably formed from stainless steel, aluminum or the like, and preferably comprises a series of interlaced, vertically disposed coils similar to coil springs. At points spaced across this sheet, extra coils lil are interlaced with the coils of the sheet to provide what may be termed aps, and in these coils or flaps, and also in the two terminal or outermost coils of the sheet are inserted wires or rods Il which, at their ends, are provided with the eyes I2. In Fig. 4 there are eight of the rods Il comprising four pairs related to the legs la, 2a, 3a and .da of the tube A, respectively, and the spacing of the flaps or coils I is such that between each pair of the rods Il there is a section of the mesh 9 of a width to extend approximately one-half the way around the related leg of the tube A. Small coil springs I3 connect the eyes I2 of the respective pairs of wires or rods Il and extend across the sides of the tube legs opposite the sides thereof against which the mesh sheet 9 is disposed, thereby functioning to draw the respective sections of said mesh sheet into engagement with and approximatelyv one-half the way around the related tube legs and thus hold the sheet 9 operatively engaging with said tube legs, as will be apparent from Fig. 5. The tube shown in Fig. may be mounted on the support 5 in the same manner as the tube A in Fig. 1.

Referring to Fig. 1, it will be observed that the transformer T may be mounted in any suitable relation to the support 5. One of the output terminals of this transformer is connected with the mantle B at its lower edge and the other of said output terminals is connected with the terminal cups 6 and 1 through suitable conductor screws or their equivalent.

When high voltage current is supplied through the transformer T to the tube A and the mantle B, it is conducted throughout the length of said .tube by the low resistance gas or gases contained therein, and, by'induction, passes from the tube through the latter to the mantle B creating an ozone corona discharge which is accelerated by what may be termed an electrical breeze which is produced by reason of the woven wire mantle being spaced substantially entirely outwardly from the tube legs. In other Words, there is only point to point contact between each tube and the portions of the mesh like grid or mantle, all of the remaining portions of said mantle being spaced outwardly from the tube. Therefore, there is an ozone generating corona' discharge between the outer face of the tube and the receding or more remote portions of each strand of the mantle elements, and, because of the electrical breeze between the tubes and the outer portions of the coil elements, not only is the generation of ozone accelerated, but the ozone produced is delivered outwardly into the air surrounding the tube. In this connection, experiments have shown that, as compared with tube legs completely encased by a metal Woven fabric, the output of ozone, other factors being equal, by the present generator is considerably greater, due, no doubt, to the mantle extending only partially around the tube leg, whereby both the tubes and the mantle remain relatively cool; and also to the points of contact between the strands of the sheet and the tubes, and the spacing of the major portions of the strands from the tubes.

I claim:

1. In an ozone generator, a tube of dielectric material containing a gas of low electrical resistance, and a mantle for avoiding the generation and concentration of excessive heat tending to destroy the tube and mantle, said mantle comprising an elongated resilient body of woven wire mesh formed into arcuate cross-sectional shape and fitted laterally in embracing relation to substantially one-half of the circumference of said tube, thereby leaving the portion of the tube opposite that embraced by the mantle exposed to the cooling effect of circulating air, and high voltage electric ccnductors connected respectively to said mantle and ends of said tube.

2. In an ozone generator, a' tube of dielectric material containing a gas of low electrical resistance, and a mantle for avoiding the generation and concentration of excessive heat tending to destroy the tube and mantle, said mantle comprising a trough-like body of relatively loosely woven wire mesh fitted to substantially one-half of the circumference of the tube, thereby leaving the other half of said tube exposed to the cooling eiect` of circulating air, rods threaded through the opposite longitudinal edges of the mesh, and elastic elements connecting the adjacent ends of the rods and extending across the exposed face of the tube to draw the mantle to the tube. Y

HARRY BUXTON HARTMAN.

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