US2686611A - Observation port for fluid tight enclosed compartments - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 17, 1954 R. F. BURKE 2,686,611

OBSERVATION PORT FOR mum TIGHT ENCLOSED COMPARTMENTS Filed May 22, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Z2 INVENTER.

Aug. 17, 1954 R. F. BURKE 2,686,61 1

OBSERVATION PORT FOR FLUID TIGHT ENCLOSED COMPARTMENTS Filed May 2 2. 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

R. F. BURKE 2,686,611

OBSERVATION PORT FOR FLUID TIGHT ENCLOSED COMPARTHENTS I Aug. 17, 1954 '3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed May 22, 1952 V/l/l? I I 7//// 1 MW 0 I I Patented Aug. 17,1954

OBSERVATION PORT FOR FLUID TIGHT ENCLOSED COMPARTMENTS Robert F. Burke, Phoenixville, Pa, assignor to Boiler Engineering & Supply 00., Inc., Phoenixville, Pa., in corporation of Pennsylvania Application May 22, 1952, Serial N0. 289,387

6 Claims.

My invention relates to a new and useful ob servation port for fluidtightenclosed compartments and has for one of its objects to produce a device that can be readily applied to a compartmented structure such as, for example only, a boiler whereby the fiames from coal, oil or and certain of the products of combustion can be visually examined to ascertain the conditions thereof without the observer being affected by the heat, flames, gases or other fluids therein.

Another object of the invention is to produce a device of the kind mentioned having one or more windows and a normally closed clean-out aperture all selectively adjustable relative to a port communicating; with an enclosed compartment in a substantially fiuidtight structure whereby the actions taking place in the compartment can be observed by an attendant without be ing injured by fire, heat, gases or other deleterious matter.

Another and highly essential object of this invention is to so construct the apparatus herein described that the inner face of each window may be cleaned without the necessity of dismounting or disassembling any part of the apparatus.

Another object of the present invention is to produce an observation port apparatus for connection to a compartmented structure, said apparatus having a number of windows selectively positionable in respect to an opening communicating with the compartment.

Another object of the invention is to include a normally closed clean-out aperture in addition to the windows which is selectively positionable in respect to the opening communicating with the above mentioned compartment.

A further object of this invention is to produce an observation port apparatus comprised of an inner stationary plate connected to a compartmented structure having an opening communicating with the compartment, said stationary plate having two widely separated holes in the same circle, one of which is in alignment with the opening to the compartment and the other hole being unobstructed at the back thereof, and a second movable plate having a surfaceseat on and rotatable relative to said stationary plate and provided with windows and a clean-out aperture all selectively registrable with either of the holes in the stationary plate whereby the compartment can be shieldably viewed through the windows or the opening leading to the compartment cleaned through the clean-out aperture or said opening closed by an imperforate portion of the movable plate and whereby the backs of the windows can be cleaned when in registration with unobstructed hole in the stationary plate.

A still further object of the invention is to produce a relatively inexpensive but strong and durable apparatus including adjustable spring means for firmly holding the movable plate against the stationary plate that carries an axle on which the adjustable spring means is mounted, a simple and efiicient means for holding the glass or" each window securely in place, and a suitable closure for normally but temporarily closing the clean-out aperture when not in use.

With the above and other objects in view this invention consists of the details of construction and combination of elements hereinafter shown and described and then designated by the claims In order that those skilled in the art to whicl this invention appertains may understand how to males and use the same I will describe its construction in detail referring by numerals to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, in which:

l is a side edge view of the observation port apparatus constructed in accordance with the invention and showing it attached to a wall of a compartmented structure, such as the rear head of a boiler.

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation on the line 2-2 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view of the plates in the region of the clean-out aperture illustrating how the latter may be closed by a screw plug.

Fig. i is a section, on a reduced scale, taken on line 6-4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a similar view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a front face view of Fig. l with a portion of the movable plate broken out to show how the operating handle can be assembled.

Fig. '7 also is a front View of the observation port apparatus illustrating a number of modifications.

Fig. 8 is a section on the line ti e of Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary sectional view on the line 9-9 of Fig. '7 with the Window moved to the observation hole in the stationary plate.

In carrying out my invention as herein embodied ill and ii represent coacting or companion stationary and movable metal. plates, respectively, preferably in the form of discs.

The stationary plate I0 has an axle l2 projecting from the front face thereof and the outer end is threaded at I3. While not limited to any particular way of mounting the axle it has been 3 shown as comprising a smoothly finished rod with its rear end projected through a hole in the stationary plate so as to protrude slightly beyond the back of said stationary plate and secured in place by welding M- or other equivalent means.

In said stationary plate it is an observation hole l5 and a cleaning hole iii angularly spaced apart a considerable distance in the arc of the same circle concentric with the axle. In actual practice the center of the cleaning hole i5 is approximately one hundred sixty-one degrees from the center of the observation hole i5 clockwise when looking at the front of the apparatus. This arrangement can be varied to a considerable extent depending largely upon the sizes of the windows and clean-out aperture to be described below. Surrounding the observation hole i5 is an internally threaded nipple ll projecting from the back of the stationary plate i6 and. said nipple is a unitary part of said stationary plate although it may originally be a separate element and secured to the plate in any appropriate manner as by welding it.

The movable plate i i is rotatably mounted on the axle i2 and its inner face seated against the front face of the'stationary plate to provide a fluidtig t joint and therefore the ooacting faces of said plates may be smooth and highly finished or ground to one another. In order to maintain a tight joint a coil spring iii surrounds the axle ill with one end of said spring engaging the outer face of the movable plate and the other end held in place by a nut'til with a washer 2i interposed between the spring and nut if desired.

The movable plate H has one or more window operings therethrough, preferably two, and are numbered 22 and 23, and a clean-out aperture 2 5. As illustrated in Figs. 1 to 6, inclusive, each win dow opening is surrounded by a ring having a larger inside diameter than the diameter of said opening and secured to the outer or front face of the movable plate, as by welding 26, to

form a cavity 22? to receive a window glass 28 and one or more gaskets 29, one gasket against eachface or only against one face of the glass. The glass in one window is clear or transparent while the other is colored to provide a quality of translucency which will function as a screen for an observers eyes when viewing flames or other bright light in the compartmented structure.

Each window glass and the associated gaskets are removably held in a cavity 2'? by a generally circular clamp member 38 temporarily fastened in position by screws 3i projected through said clamp member and screwed .into the movable plate ii.

As illustrated in Figs. 7, 8 and 9 the cavity or cavities Elia are formed directly in the outer or front face of the movable plate ii as counterbores of the window openings 22, 23 and in each cavity is mounted a window glass 2311 and a gasket Eta. It is to be understood that two gaskets can be employed as shown in Fig. 2 or only one gasket used in the first described cavity structure, as shown in Figs. 8 and 9. Each window glass 28a is removably held in place by a clamp member 38a temporarily fastened in position by screws tia which are screwed into the movable plate just beyond the perimeter of the clamp member with the screw heads overlapping the clamp member.

In that form of the apparatus illustrated in Figs. 1 to 6 the clean-out aperture 2 3 has threaded wall and is normally closed by a screw plug 32 having a rectilineal head 33 to receive a wrench or other suitable tool for tightly screwing the plug in place or backing it out, whereas in Fig. 7 the closure for the clean-out aperture is depicted as a swinging cover at pivoted on a screw 35 having threaded connection with the movable plate i I and said cover is provided with a slotted keeper 38 to be projected under the wing nut 3i screwed onto the post 38 having threaded connection with said movable plate.

The various openings in the movable plate are all in the arc of the same circle having the axle [2 as its axis and corresponding to the are of the circle in which the openings of the stationary plate are located whereby any opening in said movable plate may selectively be brought into alignment or registration with either of the openings in the stationary plate. The openings in said movable plate are so located or positioned relative to one another that an imperforate or solid observation port covering area 39, Figs. 5, 6 and '7, is provided which area is of smrlcient size to completely span the observation hole i5 and close the same when the apparatus is not otherwise employed.

A handle it is provided for rotating the movable plate H and preferably projects radially from the perimeter of said movable plate. A convenient way to construct said handle is to provide a rod il having one threaded end and force fit or sweat the plain end into a hole opening on the circumference of the plate 3 i, mount a piece of pipe or tube 32 on said rod and screw a nut it onto the threaded end of the rod to act as a barrier to prevent accidental displacement of the piece of pipe which can be held tight or allowed to revolve on the rod.

In practice the apparatus is assembled on a compartmented structure, such as a boiler, by screwing the socket ii on the exteriorly threaded nipple 44, Fig. 2, forming the observation port and projecting from the rear boiler head The length of the socket ill or the nipple at or the combination of both is sufficient to space the stationary plate ii) the necessary distance from the boiler head to permit a person to reach around back of said stationary plate and into the cleaning hole It whereby the rear surface of a window glass aligned with said cleaning hole may be cleansed.

Whenever it is desirable to observe the actions and effects of any occurrences within a closed compartment, such as the furnace compartment of a boiler, one of the observation windows is moved into alignment with the observation hole l5 by rotating the movable plate. W hen the frame or bright light radiating from any source within the compartment is not too intense the clear glass window can be used but if the light is such that it might affect the eyes of the observer the movable plate can be rotated until the colored glass window aligns with the observation port hole It.

Often fly ash or other foreign matter accumulates in the observation port comprised of the nipple tit and is necessary to remove such foreign matter to obtain a good View of the performances within the compartment. To carr out the cleaning of the observation port the clean-out aperture 2'3 is moved into alignment with the observation hole l5 and the plug 32 removed or the swinging cover 34% swung to one side, as thecase may be, to provide a direct communication with said observation port from the outside of the boiler through this apparatus. Thereafter any suitable cleaning instrumentality can be employed to displace the accumulations of foreign substahcesin the observation port.

When neither window nor the clean-out aperture is actually in use the movable plate H can be rotated until the imperforate area 39 thereof is disposed across the observation hole 15 whereupon the observation port will be closed and shut off from the outside.

Of course, I do not Wish to be limited to the exact details of construction herein shown and described as these may be varied within the scope of the appended claims Without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having described my invention what I claim as new and useful is:

1. An observation port apparatus comprising a stationary plate, an axle projecting from the front face of said plate which plate has an observation hole and a cleaning hole angularly spaced a considerable distance in the arc of a circle concentric with the axle, a threaded socket on said stationary plate surrounding the observation hole and projecting from the rear of said plate for connection to a nipple constituting an observation port, a movable plate rotatably mounted on the axle and having a fluidtight facing seat against the front of the stationary plate, said movable plate provided with a number of window openings surrounded by window glass receiving cavities and a clean-out aperture, said window openings and aperture being angularly spaced apart in the arc of the same circle as the holes in the stationary plate whereby the window openings and the clean-out aperture may be selectively moved into alignment with either the observation hole or the cleaning hole, a window glass in each cavity, means to removably hold the window glass in place, and closure means to normally close the clean-out aperture.

2. The structure according to claim 1, in combination with a coil spring surrounding the axle and engaging the front face of the movable plate, and means connected with said axle to regulate the tension of said spring.

3. The structure according to claim 1, in combination with a handle projecting radially from the perimeter of the movable plate.

4. The structure according to claim 1 wherein the clean-out aperture closure is a screw plug threaded into said aperture.

5. The structure according to claim 1 wherein the window glass holding cavities are formed directly in the front face of the movable plate.

6. The structure according to claim 1 wherein the window glass holding cavities are formed by rings having larger inside diameters than the diameters of the window openings and secured to the front face of the movable plate in concentric relation to said window openings.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,071,906 Gilmore et a1. Sept. 2, 1913 1,162,878 Quant Dec. 7, 1915 1,473,162 Sage Nov. 6, 1923 2,005,014 Tondreau June 18, 1935 2,205,179 Schultz June 18, 1940 2,442,750 Coote June 8, 1948 2,510,360 Zuher June 6, 1950 2,543,107 Haartvedt Feb. 27, 1951

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