US2700928A - Press ram lubricator - Google Patents

Description

'Feb. 1, v1955 G. N. STRIKE PRESS RAM LUBRICATOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 23, 1954 r m n e D n 3 12 650/265 M ST/e/KE (Ittomeg Feb. 1, 1955 G. N. STRIKE PRESS RAM LUBRICATOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 25, .1954

650/965 M 57'/?//( Jim Gttorneg United States Patent PRESS RAM LUBRICATOR George N. Strike, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application February 23, 1954, Serial No. 411,757

3 Claims. (Cl. 100-269) This invention relates to means for lubricating the ram of a moisture-extracting hydraulic press of the type d1sclosed in my Patent No. 2,549,344, issued April 17, 1951.

Such presses extract moisture from wet wash by squeezing the same, under extremely high pressure, between a press head and an hydraulic ram by projecting the latter toward the former while the wet wash is interposed in the path of movement of the ram and while contained in a truck that conveys the wet wash to such position.

The forces imposed on the ram are quite great in order to obtain satisfactory moisture extraction. Since such wash is deposited in the truck in a more or less haphazard manner, being dumped from washing drums into the truck in a tumbled condition, said wash, with respect to its mass, is not evenly distributed in the truck. Therefore, there are forces acting on the ram that seek to deflect the same as the ram projection increases. Such deflection results in binding of the ram in the packing bearing through which the same moves and on the side Where the deflection occurs. This compression of the packing bearing, on one side, results in such loosening of the bearing on the opposite side that much hydraulic fluid is lost when such ram deflection occurs.

In order to prevent or, at least, minimize such hydr-aulic fluid loss and simultaneously lubricate the ram bearing to ease its operation, it is an object of the present invention to provide means automatically operable, durving each stroke of the ram, to provide lubricant under pressure above the bearing to interpose a liquid seal between the ram and bearing that counteracts outward seepage of hydraulic fluid past said heating.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel packing construction for an hydraulic ram and which embodies a chamber or reservoir for lubricant retained under such pressure and applying such large amounts of lubricant to the bearing packing that leakage therepast is greatly minimized.

The invention also has for its objects to provide such means that are positive in operation, convenient in use, easily installed in a working position and easily disconnected therefrom, economical of manufacture, relatively simple, and of general superiority and serviceability.

The invention also comprises novel details of construction and novel combinations and arrangements of parts, which will more fully appear in the course of the following description. However, the drawings merely show and the following description merely describes, one embodiment of the present invention, which is given by way of illustration or example only.

In the drawings, like reference characters design-ate similar parts in the several views.

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view, partly in elevation, of a moisture-extracting hydraulic press provided with ram lubricating means according to the present invention, the lower end of the ram and cylinder of said press being broken away.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the upper end of said press as seen from the right side of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a similar view, with the parts in another position.

Fig. 4 is a greatly enlarged fragmentary plan sectional view of the ram of said press and the bearing through which the same operates.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view as taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

The press that is illustrated comprises an hydraulic cylinder that is disposed in a pit 11 and in which is ice operable a ram 12. Said cylinder is supported on a ledge 13 of said pit by a plate 14 through a central hole of which said cylinder downwardly extends. An enlargement 15 of the cylinder provides an annular shoulder supported on plate 14.

The press further includes a head 16 that is spaced and supported from plate 14 by corner posts 17a. The upper end of the ram 12 is provided with a platen 17 that, in its retracted position, as shown in Fig. 1, is substantially aligned with the floor 18 in which the pit 11 is formed. Surrounding said platen there is provided a platform 19 normally level with the platen and onto which a wet wash-containing truck 20* is adapted to be moved into position between said platen and the ram head 16, as illustrated in Fig. 1.

The platform 19 is suspended from a yoke 21 disposed above the press head 16, by means of suspenders 22, and is movable in a direction toward said press head by projection of the stem 23 of an air cylinder 24, or like device, mounted on the press head.

The means for projecting ram 12 and moving plat form 19 toward press head 16 are not shown, since the same are not necessary to understanding of the present invention. It is to be understood that. platform 19 lifts truck 20 so that the top edge of said truck is brought into engagement with the press head and that the lift of said platform results from extension of stem 23 and upward projection of yoke 21. It is to be further understood that the truck 20 has an upwardly movable bottom that is engaged by the ram platen 17 when the ram is projected and that the wet wash in the truck is compressed between said truck bottom and the press head while the truck is held in the mentioned lifted or raised position against the press head. After moisture extraction, as above, the ram and platform are both lowered. Thus, in the normal operation of the press, yoke 21 moves up and then down each time a moisture-extracting operation is performed by the press.

According to the invention, the raising and lowering of yoke 21 is utilized to operate a lubricator 25, mounted on the press head, by means 26 and said lubricator, through a plurality of conduits 27, supplies lubricant to a guide bearing 28 carried by the cylinder 10 and which guides ram 12 in its movement as above indicated.

The lubricator 25 comprises any suit-able device that has a body 29 that receives a continuous supply of lubricant through a pipe 30 and is adapted to force the lubricant into conduits 27 upon inward projection of a reciprocative plunger 31 or by a comparable member.

The means 26 interconnects said plunger 31 and yoke 21 and is shown as comprising a lever 32 pivotally mounted on a bracket 33 and having one arm thereof connected to plunger 31. The other arm of said lever is shown slotted and engaged by a pin 34 on a bracket 35 aflixed to yoke 21. The lever 32 is disposed at such an angle that the same is oscillated as yoke 21 is moved up and down, causing reciprocation of plunger 31 and, therefore, displacement of lubricant from body 29 into conduits 27 each time said plunger is inwardly projected. The means 26 is arranged to cause said lubricant feed on the up stroke of yoke 21.

The guide bearing 28 comprises ring packing 36 disposed in an annular cavity 37 formed in the enlarged end 15 of cylinder 10. A gland 38 overlies said end 15 and is provided with a down-reaching annular flange 39 in compression engagement with packing 36. An annular sealing strip 40, carried by the inner face of said gland, is in wiping engagement with the outer face of the ram 12 in spaced relation above where packing 36 engages said ram. The usual studs 41 and nuts 42 are used to engage the gland and cylinder end 15 and to exert pressure on the former to bring flange 39 into compressive engagement with packing 36.

An annular chamber 43 is formed between said gland 38 and cylinder end 15 by an annular compressible ring 44 concentric with and outward of flange 39 of said gland. Said ring is in compression so as to effectively seal the chamber 43, but the same cannot be unduly compressed because of the provision of shims or spacers 45 interposed between the gland and cylinder end.

The conduits 27, of which there may be four, or as many as necessary to supply chamber 43, are connected to gland 38 and enter said chamber. Gland flange 39 is provided with a series of circumferentially spaced ports 46 that communicate chamber 43 and an inner annular groove 47 in said flange. Consequently, lubricant supplied to chamber 43 by conduits 27 is brought into contact with ram 12 between packing 36 and sealing strip 40 by ports 46 and groove 47 and, being under pressure by the positive force produced by lubricator plunger 31, efiects a seal between the gland and the ram that greatly minimizes leakage of hydraulic fluid upwardly past packing 36. The seal 40, however, is not sufficiently tight to break lines 27. There is some seepage past ring 40. Moreover, the ram bearing receives lubricant when it is most needed, at the time that the ram is being projected.

To supplement seal 40, an annular rubber member 48 is tightly placed around the ram above the gland 38, the same being spring-urged toward the gland by leaf springs 49 fastened to studs 41 and pressing on an annular angle member 50 encircling rubber member 48. The sealing strip 40 and the ring 44 tend to retain lubricant in the bearing. Seepage of oil past the strip 40, mentioned above, is caught within the cupped space between the annular member 48 and the ram 12 (see Fig. The member 48, the strip 40 and the ring 44 together perform the additional function of preventing water from coming in contact with the bearing. Since the compressed wet wash releases large quantities of water, the members 40, 44 and 48 are quite valuable to the mechanism.

While I have illustrated and described what I now contemplate to be the best mode of carrying out my invention, the construction is, of course, subject to modification without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. It is, therefore, not desired to restrict the invention to the particular form of construction illustrated and described, but to cover all modifications that may fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim and desire to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In a press having a cylinder and a ram hydraulically projected from one end of said cylinder, there being ring packing in a seat in said cylinder end in sealing engagement between the same and the ram and a gland engaged with said packing to compress the same into such sealing engagement, said gland having a portion spaced from said cylinder end to form an annular chamber, said press having a platform movable in the direction of ram projection, the combination of an annular member interposed between the gland and said cylinder end and closing said annular chamber, the gland being provided with ports communicating said chamber and the inner face of the gland, a lubricator, common means to move said platform in said direction and simultaneously operate said lubricator, and conduits to convey lubricant discharged by the lubricator into said chamber.

2. In the combination of claim 1: said common means comprising a yoke member connected to said platform and means to move said yoke member to move said platform, and an operating connection between said yoke and the lubricator.

3. In a press having a cylinder and a ram hydraulically projected from one end of the cylinder, there being a ring packing in a seat in said cylinder end in sealing engagement between the same and the ram and a gland engaged with said packing to compress the same into such sealing engagement, the gland having a portion spaced from the end of the cylinder to provide an annular chamber between the gland and the cylinder, the improvement that comprises, in combination, a compressible annular member interposed between said spaced gland portion and said cylinder end and closing said annular chamber, spacer means also interposed between said spaced gland portion and said cylinder end and outward of the annular member to limit compression of the latter, the gland being provided with ports communicating said chamber and the inner face of the gland, a lubricator having an inlet for lubricant, outlet conduits for said lubricant from said lubricator connected to the gland and entering the mentioned chamber, and means to operate said lubricator to force lubricant through said conduits into said chamber during projection movement of the ram.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 889,740 Young June 2, 1908 2,183,983 Bostwick Dec. 19, 1939 2,348,004 Gruetjen May 2, 1944 2,367,009 Davis Jan. 2, 1945 2,549,344 Strike Apr. 17, 1951

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