US2357960A - Fluid circulating system - Google Patents

Description

Sept. l2, 1944. w. H. KUSTER ETAL FLUID CIRGULATING SYSTEM i Filed Aug. '7, 1942 INVENTORS Um JXusfer Edwznlynn ATTORNEYS Patented Sept. 12, 1944 zsnetol UNITED STATES-. PATENTv oFF-ICE FLUID CIRCULATING SYSTEM William H. Kuster, San Francisco, and Edwin A. Glynn, Lodi, Galif.

Application Augustfl, 1942, Serial No. 454,059

3 Claims.

This invention relates to the vulcanizing art and particularly to vulcanizing operations which are effected in a closed kettle by means of a hot gas confined under pressure in the kettle. 'j

In order to assure a proper vulcanizing action, it is desirable to circulatethe confined gas, and our principal object is to provide a gas circulating system, disposed entirely within the kettle, by means of which a very even distribution of the heated gas over the entire area of the kettle is eiected, Without any possibility of a channeling flow action being had.

The kettle and the circulating system therein are particularly designed for vulcanizing treads on tires, and another object of the invention is to arrange the circulating system so that the circulating gas, adjacent its point of greatest pressure in the kettle, impinges directly on the tread of a tire so as to have a quick vulcanizing action thereon, and thus avoiding the necessity of leavingv the tires in the kettle for such a length of time as would cause the sidewalls of the tires to become unduly heated.

Another object is to provide, as a lpart of the circulating system, a, means for supporting the tires so that the treads are disposed in the path of even gas pressures, so that a tread is subjected to the same even vulcanizing action all about its circumference...

A further object of the invention is to produce a simple and inexpensive device and yet one which will be exceedingly elective for the purpose for which it is designed.

These objects we accomplish by means of such structure and relative arrangement of parts as will fully appear by a perusal of the following specication and claims.

The figure on the drawing is a sectional elevation of a vulcanizing kettle equipped with our improved circulating system.

Referring now more particularly to the characters of reference on the drawing, the kettle comprises a pair of substantially semi-spherical heated insulated shell sections l and 2. The adjacent ends of these sections are open to each other and lie in a Vertical plane, and while they are capable of being moved apart for insertion and removal of the tires. as shown in our copending application for patent, Serial No. 454,058, i'lled August 7, 1942, now U; S. Patent No. 2,346,973, they are locked together in pressuretight relation when in operation. This locking is preferably effected by the device shown in our co-pending application, Serial No. 454,060, filed August 7, 1942. The sections are each provided with an interior wall 3 spaced from the shell proper and when ythe sections are secured together, these walls together with the outer shell form a continuous chamber 4 about the interior of the shell. The wall 3 is disposed relative to the wall shell so that the cross sectional area of the chamber at any point between its ends is substantially constant. The wall 3 is provided withv perforations 5, freely distributed throughout its eXtent,ffor the passage of gas therethrough. y

f The shell section l is provided vwith a hori- Zonta] axiallyk disposed open ended tubular member 6 connected to the adjacent wall 3 atthe end of the section. A fan chamber 1 is interposed between theadjacent end of the member 6 and the adjacentl portion of the chamber 4, and

opens freely into said member. The fan chamber .has relatively restricted` communication with the chamber 4 by means of an annular pas-l sage 8 flaring radially out into chamber 4.

A similar tube 9 is alined with the tube lY but is spaced therefrom suflicient to provideV a gap I0 therebetween at adjacentends. This tube is mounted axially in the shell section 2, but is merely closed at its outer end and does not directly communicate with thechamber 4. Both tubes are provided with freely distributed perforations ll somewhat larger than the perforations 5. The combined area of all perforations 5 is somewhat greater than the combined area of all perforations ll plus the gap I0, due allowance being made for pressure losses in the circulating gas, owing to friction at the perforations.

A motor driven fan l2 is mounted in the chamber l, drawing from the tube 6 and discharging into the adjacent end of chamber 4 all about the same through the annular passage 8. The gas to be circulated is initially discharged into the kettle at any suitable point, but preferably into the tube E adjacent the fan chamber by means of a conduit I3 facing the fan. The diameter of the tube members 6 and 9 is no greater than the bead size of any tire, and if a tire T of a larger size is to be vulcanized it is supported from either tube, so as to be concentric therewith and with the shell, by a suitable spider or spacer as indicated at I4. `In operation, assuming the kettle to be closed and filled with gas to be circulated, the fan is started, which draws the gas from the tubes and discharges the same into the chamber 4. Due to the restricted passage or throat 8 through which the gas is initially forced,

the pressure is gradually built up within the Vsired hot vulcanizing action on the chamber. The gas in the chamber then escapes in the form of small streams'through the perforations 5, all such streams initially moving substantially radial of the kettle; those in whose path the tire is disposed impinging directly upon 'the tread of the tire with a jet action before these various small streams become dissipated and their pressure materially lessened.

VDue'to the relative area of the perforations in the wall 3 and the tubes, as previously set forth, there is no tendency for the gas to move directly from one to the other and a channeling action, which would otherwise occur, is

Vconcentrate a gasrllow between the wall 3 and a certain portion only of theV axial return conduit unit 6 and 9, we may mount one or more removable slideV sleeves I over said conduit, soY

as to cover any desired number of periorations therein and thusvcause the gas being drawn toward said conduit unit from substantially the entire area of the wall 3, to move toward a selected portion only, of said return conduit. In this manner any tire etc. can be vulcanized more quickly than would otherwise be the case, and

' the use of such a sleeve would be resorted to when a single tire is being treated. Y

YIn the case Vof large size tires whose side walls might be damaged Yby long exposure to the hot gas, a cold water bag maybe mounted in the tire so as to have a cooling action on the sidewalls for some time without affecting the dethicker tread portion of the tire.

VFrom the foregoing description it willV be readily seen that we have produced such ardevice as substantiallyfullls the objects of the invention as set forth herein.

While this specification sets forth in detail the present and preferred construction ofethe device, still in practice such deviations from such detail may be Vresorted to as do not form a departure from the spirit of the invention, as de.

ned by the appended claims.

Having thus described our invention what we claim as new and useful and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

V1. A vulcanizing kettle comprising a wall forming an internal gas chamber, a. substantially spherical and freely perforated shell with- 'in and spaced from the Vwalls* ofthe chamber, a y

perforated conduitin the shell open at one end, an kaxial fan chamber interposed between the open end of the conduit and the adjacent portion of the gas chamber and connecting the same, a fan in said fan chamber drawing from the conduit, and means forming a circumferential restricted passage leading into the gas chamber from about the periphery of the fan chamber, the walls of the passage diverging into said gas chamber the diameter of the fan chamber being relatively small compared with that of the gas chamber.

2. A vulcanizing kettle comprising a wall forming an internal gas chamber, a substantially spherical and freelyperforated shell within and spaced from the Walls of the chamber, a perforated conduit unit in the shell communieating with the space between the wallsv of said chamber and said shell, and means to circulate gas confined within the kettle from the conduit and back toY the conduit through the perforations in the shell and conduit; a relatively large opening being provided in the conduit unit all about the same in a zone substantially centrally of the kettle.

3. A tire vulcanizing kettle comprising a pair of complementary kettle sections of greater in-V ternal diameter than a tire and movable horizontally relative to each other to close or open the kettle, a horizontal tire support in and fixed with each section disposed axially Athereof and extending parallel to the direction of relative movement of the sections, said support being adapted to relatively slide through the central opening of a tire; there being means to circulate a heated gas Within the kettle when the sections are closed.V

WILLIAM H. KUSTER.'

EDWIN A. GLYNN.

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