US2298827A - Humidity controller - Google Patents

Description

O 13,1942 F. D. JOESTING 2,298,827

Human? CONTROLLER Filed June 15, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ,{Snvenior Freicric'k ID. Joesl-ing Uikorngg Qct.13, 1942. D. JOEVSTING. 2,298,827

HUM IDITY CONTROLLER inventor 7 Frederick D. Josiing Patented 13, 19 42 HUMIDITY CONTROLLER Frederick D. locating Chicago, 111.,

Minneapolis-Honeywell Begulato assignor to Company,

Minneapolis, Minn, a corporationoi Delaware Application June 15, 1940, Serial No. 340,853 4 v The present invention relates to control de- 18 Claims.

vices and is more' particularly concerned with providing a compact and accurate controller which responds to changes in humidity.

Another object is to provide a humidity control mechanism placed within a neat and decorative casing suitable for mounting upon a wall or elsewhere in a dwelling or other building.

A further object is to provide, in a control device, a simplified adjustment for varying the sensitivity or the differential of said device in its normal controlling operation.

Another object is to provide a simplified reversing arrangement for setting said device to actuate a controlled mechanism by either direct or reverse action, whichever is desired.

Another object is to provide a simplified strain release for the condition responsive element which is associated with the adjustment mechanism for the element.

A biasing spring 25 bears against the upper Sure face of the flapper valve 2| and is adjustably secured in position by a bolt 35. v

- The flapper valve mechanism 20 is actuated by an adjustable lever mechanism 40. A flrst lever 4| is in the form of a bell crank pivoted upon horizontal pivot pins 42 which are secured to the righthand upstanding arm 22 of the base 20 as viewed in Figure 3. This lever 4| is retained upon the pins 42 by a small spring 49. The lever 4| has a lever arm 42 provided with an adjustment screw 44 which operatively engages the A still further object is to provide means associated with the adjustment mechanism and the flapper valve 2|. Lever 4| also has a second broad faced lever arm 45. This arm 45 is broad faced for purposes of adjustment to be hereinafter described. It will be noted with reference to Figure 3 that the lever arm 43 of the lever 4| will be rocked up and down upon movement of the other lever arm 45. A second lever 50 has a broad face 5| which is of substantially the same area as the broad faced lever arm 45 of the lever 4|. The lever Ill has upper and lower condition responsive element of a control device which will compensate. for any. movements of such element in response to temperature changes of the ambient air which is in contact with the device.

Still other objects will become apparent upon consideration of the following specification and claims, taken in view of the accompanying drawings, inv which: Y K

Figure 1 is an elevational View of a control instrument embodying the invention, the cover being in place,

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 with the cover removed,

Figure 3 is Figure 2, I Figure 4 is a section taken on line4-4 of t Figure 3, and

ears 52and 53. The upper ear 52 ispivoted upon a screw 54 which is secured to a bracket 55 which is in turn secured to the right hand upstanding arm 22 of the base 20. The lower car 52 is in vertical alignment with the upper car 52 and is pivoted to a screw 56 which is secured to thebase 20 as is clearly shown in 'Figure 4.

his seen that the lever 50 rotates about a vertical axis whereas the lever 4| rotates about a horizontal axis. However, it will be obvious that any suitable angle for the two axes may be used.

A pin 62 is provided to transfer movement from the lever 50 to the lever 4|. This pin 80 .is screw a section taken on line 3-2 of threaded and provided with a, nut 5| which is .tapped to provide a factory adjustment for the pin II. This adjustment comprises screwing the nut 6| until the proper pin III in or out within the length of the pin 60 extends through the lever 50.

Figure 5 is a detailed sectional view of a part of my. device.

Referring to Figures 2, 3, and 4. a base 2| has suitable mounting skirts 2| and upstanding ends 22. Disposed between the skirts 2| is a second smaller base 22 which is fastened to the skirts 2| by screws 24. Secured upon the smaller base 22 is a chamber 25 which has conventional passages therein which lead to an air supply line 25, a control line 21, and a bleed port 22 which is provided in an upstandingnipple 25. Also secured to the base 20 is a valvemechanism 30.. The valve mechanism 30 has a flapper valve 2| which Q is pivoted at 32 upon shoulderedpin's 33 which are suitably secured to the base 20 by posts 24.

After the device is adjusted a drop of solder 62 may be placed upon the nut BI and the head of the pin to thus form a unitary adjustment screw member. An adjustment nut 53 is disposed on the opposite side of the lever 50 in cooperative relation with the nut ll and the pin '60. The

adjustmentscrew member fits into'the' slot 65 a or the slot 65. As shown in the drawings, the

adjustment member is in the slot 65.

A typical adjustment may be obtained as folv lows: With reference to Figure 4 assume that a larger differential adjustment for the lever mechanism 40 isde'sired. The operator may loosen the nut 5| and slip the pin 50 upwardlyin. the slot I5 until the desired-point is reached. The

, ment I is subjected.

nut 6| may then be tightened to secure the pin 60 in the new position. By this single adjusting movement the effective lever arm of both of the levers 50 and M will be changed. The lever 50 which rotates about a vertical axis as has been previously explained will have its effective lever arm shortened because the slot 65 slants upwardly toward this axis. The lever M -which rotates about the horizontally aligned pins 42 will have its effective lever arm lengthened because the pin 60 will be moved away from its axis. By properly selecting differently slanting slots any desired ratio of change for these effective lever arms may be obtained.

Suitable indicia 50a are stamped upon the face of the lever 50. Indicia characters DA indicate the direct acting slot 66 and the characters RA indicate the reverse acting'slot which, when the pin 60 is placed therein, acts just oppositely to the direct acting slot because these two slots are on different sides of the vertical pivots 54 and 56 for the lever 50. The action for lever 4| remains the same because the pin 60 will remain above the horizontal pivot pins 42.

A humidity responsive element 10 has several hair strands II which are secured at each end to clips 12. The right hand clip 12 is fastened to a pivot I3 which is rotatably secured to an ear B1 of the lever 50. The left hand clip I2 has a pin I4 which is rotatably secured to an ear 15a of an adjustment lever I5. Therefore it is seen that this humidity responsive element I0 is actively secured between the adjusting lever 15 and the operating lever 50. A main spring 68 secured to the ear 81 on the lever 50 and an arm 69 on the bracket 55 at all times biases the lever 50 in one direction and tensions the humidity responsive element I0 which tends to move the lever 50 in the opposite direction.

The adjustment lever I5 is pivoted at I9 to a temperature compensating rod 11. The rod 11 has a shoulder I6 which may cooperate with suitable pivot dimples on thelever 15 in a manner that is well known. The rod I1 is adjustably secured and is horizontally slidable within a hole in one end to a bracket I8 secured to the base 20 by screws I9. An adjustment nut 80 cooperates with a screw threaded portion 8| of the rod 11, thus providing a factory adjustment of the position of 'the pivot point 16. The other end 82 of the rod I1 is screwthreaded and equipped with a nut 83 and a spring 04 to provide a strain release connection for the humidity responsive element I0. The end 02 extends loosely through the left hand arm 22 of the base 20 so that if the humidity responsive element I0 should shrink beyond the degree to which it is adjusted, the entire rod 11 would be free to move toward the right against the action of the strain release spring 34. The rod 11 may be made of brass or any other suitable temperature responsive material and'is adapted to compensate the humidity responsive element I0 for any changes in ambient temperature to which the ele- It is also seen that, by combining this temperature compensating feature with a spring biased pivot for an adjustment lever, a simplified structure providing temperature compensation, a strain release, and an ad.- justment is obtained.

An adjustment mechanism 90 is provided to vary the control point for'the humidity responsive element 10. This adjustment mechanism 90 has a main adjustment screw 94 which is provided with an enlarged shoulder 95 and a reduced neck 96. The shoulder 95 is pressed against the inner surface 91 of the left hand arm 22 of the base 20 by a spring clip 98 which engages a tapered portion 99 of the screw head 93 and the outer surface of the arm 22. A pin I00 is suitably secured in a recess IOI in the shoulder 95. The pin I00 is slidably received in a hole I02 in an annular flange I03 of a sleeve I04. The pin I00 imparts rotary motion from the shoulder 95 of the screw 94 to the annular flange I03, thereby rotating the screw 94 and the sleeve I 04 simultaneously. A sleeve I05 is provided with external screw threads I06 which cooperate with internal screw threads I01 of the outer sleeve I04. with internal threads I09 which cooperate with threads I09 on the screw 94. The pitches of the internal and external threads of this sleeve I05 are both right hand threads in the particular modification shown. The purpose of these different threads will be" more fully described hereinafter. The sleeve I05 is non-rotatably secured to an arm H0. The top of the arm H0 is provided with an indicator I3 which may be painted or suitably stamped so as to be readily seen. A downturned ear III is provided with a hole II2 through which a guide arm II3 slidably extends. The arm H3 is secured to a bracket II4 which is suitably secured by a depending arm II5 to the upstanding arm 22 of the base 20. The bracket II4 has-indicia stamped thereon so that the device may be readily adjusted in the factory or for installation settings while the cover is 01!.

A cover I0 is attached to a mounting skirt II by suitable means. The cover I0 has a slot I2 through which the adjustment indicator I3 is visible. The adjustment indicator I3 cooperates with a scale I4, the indicia of which are impressed upon a depressed portion I5 of the cover I0. The indicia upon the portion I5 are identical to the indicia upon the bracket II4, hereinbefore mentioned. In many installations, covers without slots are provided, in which case thedevice is set with the cover removed in accordance with the indicia on the bracket II4.

A detailed sectional view of the adjustment mechanism is shown in Figure 5. A portion of the case I0 is shown in this figure which has a hole 92 that registers with an adjustment nut 93. This hole 92 is adapted to allow passage of a suitable socket wrench which may engage the nut 93 to provide for manual adjustment of the device.

To adjust the humidity responsive element 10 to operate at different humldities, a suitable wrench may be inserted through the hole 92 in the cover I0 and engage the nut 93. Upon rotation of the nut 93 in a clockwise direction, the screw threaded stem 94 will be likewise rotated in a clockwise direction. Because the pin I00 which is secured to the shoulder 95 extends through the hole I02 in the annular flange I03 of the sleeve I04, this sleeve I04 will likewise be rotated in a clockwise direction. Upon such rotation the screw threads I05 and I 01 will tend to move'the sleeve I04 toward the right in relation to the non-rotatable sleeve I05. However. clockwise movement of the screw threads I09 will tend to move the sleeve I05 toward the left. By properly selecting differently pitched threads, a

. difference in rate of movement of these two The sleeve I05 is provided arms 9| engage the shoulder I20 at about twice the distance from the pivot point It with respect to distance which the humidity element 10 is connected to the ear 10, the actual ratio of movement between the indicator II and the humidity element I isabout thirty-two to one. Of course some other suitable ratio could be used if desired. It will be obvious that by rotating-the nut 03 in a counter-clockwise direction, the reverse of the action above described will be eifected.

' It will be understood that many other diiferential movements may be obtained by selecting different .thread pitches or changing the pitch direction, as from right hand to left hand threads. One example of a reversing differential movement could be accomplished as follows: Assume that the internal threads I00 are thirty-two pitch to the inch, and the external threads I08 are thirty pitch (both threads being right hand).

Now if the screw 94 is rotated so as to move the threaded sleeve I one inch toward v the right,

i thirty-two revolutions thereof will'be necessary.

Because the pin I00 carried by the shoulder 05 of the screw 04 is operatively connected to the external sleeve I04, this sleeve likewise will be-rotateds Thirty-two revolutions of the exterior sleeve I04 will cause this sleeve. to move thirtytwo thirtieths of an inch toward the left, or one and one-fifteenth inches relative to the threaded sleeve I05. Thus it is apparent that in moving the threaded sleeve I05 one inch toward the right. the external sleeve I04 will be moved one-fifteenth inch toward the left. This shows that various amounts of travel, .or reversed .direction travel, may be obtained by properly selecting dif-' ferently pitched screw threads.

' operatio It has been previously pointed out that the present device is adapted to control the relative humidity in a space to be either humidified or dehumidifled. It has alsobeen explained that the device may be made either direct or reverse acting by merely changing the position of the actu ating nut BI between the adjustment slots 05 or 66 as desired.

Assuming then that the parts of the device are in the position illustrated, the flapper valve member. 3| is held away from the valve port by the 1 lever arm 43. with the adjustment nut in the position shown, the valve is opened uponan increase in humidity which causes the humidity re-" sponsive strands II to stretch; when these strands II stretch, the main spring 60 biases the lever 50 in a counter-clockwise direction as viewed in Figure 2. As the lever 50 is rotated in a counter-clockwise direction, the pin 00 will bear against the broad faced arm 4| of the lever 4I and rotate this lever 4| in a clockwise direction as viewed in Figure 3. Therefore it is seen that the lever arm .43 will be raised to lift the flapper valve 3| away from the 'bleed port 20. by the main spring 68 upon an increase in humidity.

Upon a decrease in humidity, the humidity re-' sponsive strands II will shrinkand rotate the 75 lever 50 in a clockwise direction against the action of spring 68 as viewed in Figure 2. when the lever 50 is rotated in a clockwise direction the pin 60 will allow the spring 35 on the flapper valve 31 to bias the lever arm 43 downwardly until the flapper yalve 3| engages the bleed port 20.

It will be noted that the adjustment screw 6| is about in the mid point of the slot 65 as viewed in Figure 4. At this point of adjustment, the device will be at some predetermined intermediate point between maximum and minimum differential adjustment. By differential adjustment is meant the difference in relative humidity response necessary to open and close the valve bleed port 28 a 'suflicient amount to fully operate the device controlled. To. adjust the device to have a maximum diflerential as has been hereinbefore explained, the pin 60 may be moved toward the top of the slot 65, and for minimum differential, the pin 60 may be moved to the bottom of the slot 65. It will be noted that when the pin is in the upper position, the'effective lever arm of th lever 50 which acts upon the portion 45 of the lever 4I will be. reduced. In other words, the pin 60 will be closer to the center of rotation of the lever 50. Also, with the pin 60 in the topof the slot 65, that pin will engage the lever 4| at a point a greater distance away from its pivots 1 to thereby obtain an'effectively large adjustment. 4

42. For the lower position of the pin 80 the opposite relationship obtains. As'has been previously pointed out, the variations for the relative lever arms for each lever may be selected as desired by using slots having different angles in relation to the levers.

With the device as shown,'one of the effective lever arms is decreased as the other is increased with the slot and lever arranged as illustrated in the drawings, it has been found that a change in lever ratios of approximately between one to one and fifteen to one can be obtained as the pin 00 is moved from one end of the slot to the other. v If it is desired to make the device direct acting, the adjustment pin 00 may be changed over to. the slot 86 by merely removing the nut and placing the parts in the slot 06. It will be clear from reference to Figure 4 that the differential adjustment of the device will be identical. .With

the device direct acting, when the relative humidity which affects the strands II increases and causes them to stretch, the lever 50 will be 'rotated in a counter-clockwise direction, as

viewed in Figure 2, by the main spring 00. The pin now being on the opposite side of the pivots I4 and I56, the pin will move away from v the broad faced lever arm 45 of the lever 4|. It will be seen byreferring to Figure 3. that when the pin 00 is moved away from the lever arm 40 the lever arm 43 will be forced downwardly by the spring 35 which acts upon the flapper valve 0| to thus close the bleed port 20.

When the relative humidity which aflects the strands II decreases, these strands will shrink to rotate the lever 50 against the bias of the main spring 00 in a, clockwise direction. The pin 00,

now being in the slot 68, will rotate the lever arm 45 in a clockwise direction as viewed ,in

Figure 3, and raise the lever arm 43 to movethe flapper valve ll away from the bleed port 20.

It is seen that I have provided a humidity responsive device which, may be either direct or reverse acting asdesired. It is also noted that I have provided a differential adjustment for such a device which is adjusted in the same manner whether the device is direct acting or reverse acting. I have also provided a temperature compensating arrangement including a strain release connection in combination with a simplified adjustment device which gives different ranges of movement to an adjustment element and an indicator which cooperates with suitable indicia.

Many forms and modifications of my device will occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore it is to be clearly understood that I am not to be limited in my invention only to that form shown and described, but.by the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a control device, in combination, a first lever pivoted to rotate about a first axis, a second lever pivoted to rotate about a second axis, said first and second axes being in angular relationship to each other, adjustable connecting means to transmit movement from one to the other of said levers movable angularly in relation to the axes of both levers to simultaneously vary an effective lever arm of each lever, control means operated by one of said levers, condition responsive means to move the other of said levers, and adjustment means for adjusting the condition value at which said condition responsive means will move said other lever.

2. In a control device, in combination, a first lever pivoted to rotate about a first axis, a second lever pivoted to rotate about a second axis, said first and second axes being in angular relationship to each other, connecting means to transmit movement from one to the other of said levers, adjustment means movable angularly in relation to the axes of both levers to simultaneously vary an effective lever arm oi each lever, condition responsive means to move one of said levers, and means for changing said connecting means from one to the other side of the axis of one of said levers to cause said device to be either direct or reverse acting.

3. In a control device, in combination, a first lever pivoted to rotate about a first axis, a second lever pivoted to rotate about a second axis, said first and second axes being inangular relationship to each other, connecting means to transmit movement from one to the other of said levers, adjustment means movable angularly in relation to the axes of both levers to simultaneously vary an efiective lever arm of each lever, condition responsive means to move one of said levers, control means operated by the other of said levers, and means for changing said connecting means from one to the other side of the axis of one of said levers to cause said control means to be either direct or reverse acting with respect to said condition responsive means.

4. In combination, a non-rotatable first sleeve having interior and exterior threads, said in-' terior threads being of a different pitch with relation to the said exterior threads, a rotatable second sleeve having interior threads cooperable with the exterior threads of said first sleeve, a screw cooperable with the interior threads of said first sleeve, means to rotate said screw and said second sleeve simultaneously whereby said first sleeve and said second sleeve move at different rates of movement in axial relationship to said screw in accordance with the difierence .in pitch of said interior and exterior threads, first adjustment means actuated by one of said sleeves, and second adjustment means actuated by the other of said sleeves.

thereby vary the sensitivity of said valve in rerates of movement in axial relationship to said screw in accordance with the difference in pitch of said interior and exterior threads, first adjustment means actuated by one of said sleeves,

second adjustment means actuatedby the other of said sleeves, an indicator carried by one of said adjustment means, a cover having a hole therein which registers with said indicator, and indicia arfiacent the hole in said cover for indicating the position of said adjustment means.

6. In combination, a pair of spaced supports, a bleed port secured between said supports, a flapper valve cooperable with said bleed port, a movable humidity responsive element, connection means between said element and said valve whereby said valve is moved toward and away from said port by said element, said connection means including a pair of non-parallelly rotatable levers, and adjustment means to vary the fiectivelever arm of at least one of said levers to thereby vary the sensitivity of said valve in response to movement of said element.

7. In combination, a pair of spaced supports, a bleed port secured between said supports, a flapper valve cooperable with said bleed port, a movable humidity responsive element, connection means between said element and said valve whereby said valve is moved toward and away from said port by said element, said connection means including a pair of non-parallelly rotatable levers, adjustment means to vary the efiective lever arm of at least one of said levers to thereby vary the sensitivity of said valve in response to movement of said element, and adjustment means for adjusting the control point of said element.

8. In combination, a pair of spaced supports, a bleed port secured between said supports, a flapper valve cooperable with said bleed port, a movable humidity responsive element, connection means between said element and said valve whereby said valve is moved toward and away from said port by said element, said connection means including a pair of non-parallelly rotatable levers, adjustment means to vary the effective lever arm of at least one of said levers to sponse to movement of said element, adjustment means for adjusting the control point of said element, and temperature compensating means for compensating the movement of said element in response to temperature changes.

9. In combination, a pair of spaced supports, a bleed port secured between said supports, a flapper valve cooperable with said bleed port, a movable humidity responsive element, connection means between said element and said valve whereby said valve is moved toward and away from said port by said element, said connection means including a pair of non-parallelly rotatable levers, adjustment means to vary the effective lever arm of at least one of said levers to with protect against undue ment, and strain release means associated said adjustment means to stress in said element.

10. In combination, a flapper valve, a movable.

humidity responsive element for opening and closing said flapper valve in accordance with changes in ambient humidity, first adjustment means for varying the sensitivity of said element in relation to said valve, second adjustment means for varying the control point at which said element will act upon said valve, a strain release for preventing undue stress in said element, and means for preventing movement of said element in response to ambient temperature changes, said last means also providing a pivot for said adjustment means.

11. In combination, a flapper valve, a movable humidity responsive element for opening and closing said flapper valve in accordance with changes in" ambient humidity, first adjustment means for varying the sensitivity of said element in relation to said valve, 'a rotatable adjusting screw, a pair of axially movable adjustment sleeves carried by said screw, variously pitched screw thread means causing one of said sleeves to move a greater distance than the other for the same rotation of 'said adjusting screw, an .indicator carried by one of said sleeves for indicating the setting of the element, a lever adapted to be positioned by the other of said sleeves for setting said element, a pivot for said lever, and temperature compensating means associated with said pivot for compensating the movement of said element in response to ambient temperature changes. r

12.'A control device adjustment comprising,

, an actuating first lever'pivoted to rotate about an axis, an actuated second lever pivoted to rotate about an axis which is in angular relationship to said first. axis, connecting means for connecting said two levers, said connecting means being adjustable to vary the effective lever arm of at least one of said levers, and means for changing said connecting means from one tothe other side of the axis of one of said levers only to thereby reverse the effective action of said one of said levers. 13. In a control device, in combination, a firs free end oi saidcompensat'ing member engaging said support and operating to move said support away from the first end of said humidity responsive element on an increase in temperature to compensate for thermal expansion of said humidity responsive element.

15. In a control device, in combination, a first lever pivoted to rotate about a first axis, a sec ond lever pivoted to rotate about a second axis, f said first and second axes being in angular-relationship to each other, condition responsive means for moving said first lever, control means actuated by said second lever, motion transmitting means connectlng a first point on said first lever with a first point .on said second lever,. and

means for adjusting the effective leverage of said levers comprising means for bodily adjusting said motion transmitting means to connect a second point on said first "lever wlthia second point on said second lever.

17. In a humidity responsive control device, in combination, a base member, a control element carried by said base, a longitudinally expanding and contracting humidity responsive element havingva coeflicient of thermal expansion dif-. fering from that of the material or which said base member is composed operatively connected at a first end to sald'control ature compensating member its endsby said base and having a free end adapted to move relative to said base on changes lever pivoted to rotate about a first axis, a sec- 0nd lever pivoted to rotate about a second axis, said first and second axes being in angular relationship to each other, adjustable connecting means to transmit movement from one to the other of said levers movable angularly in relation to the axes of both levers to simultaneously vary an effective lever arm of each lever, condition responsive means to move one of said levers, and means for positioning said connecting means cause the device to operate either direct or reverse acting. I

14. In a humidity responsive control device, in

combination, a base member, a control element on either side of the axis of one of said levers'to I in temperature, a lever, adjusting means for pcsltloning a first end of said lever to select the value of relative humidity element is operated, and a support for the second end of said humidity responsive element carried by the second end or said lever, said lever being pivoted intermediate its ends said compensating member.

18. In a humidity responsive control device, in combination, a base member, a control element carried by said base, a longitudinally expanding and contracting humidity responsive element having a coemclent of thermal expansiondill'erlng from that of the material of which said base member is composed operatlvely connected at a lirst end to said control element, a temperature compensating member carried by said base member and having one of its ends biased to a predetermined position with respect to said base member,- the other end of said cdmpensatlng member being free to move relative to said base member on changes in temperature, a lever, adjusting means ior positioning a first end of said lever to select the value of relative humidity at which said control element is operated,

member.

' D. JOEBTING.

element, a tempercarried at one of at which said control on the free end'of

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