US2704503A

US2704503A - Automatic vent closure

Info

Publication number: US2704503A
Application number: US292765A
Authority: US
Inventors: Charles J Roos
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1952-06-10
Filing date: 1952-06-10
Publication date: 1955-03-22
Anticipated expiration: 1972-03-22

Description

March 22, 1955 c. J. ROOS 2,704,503

A-UTOMATIC VENT CLOSURE Filed June 10, 1952 2 Shets-Shee 1 Charles J R005 7 INVENTOB ATTORNEYS March 22, 1955 c. J. ROOS AUTOMATIC VENT CLOSURE Filed June 10, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Charles J R005 INVENTOR www-Fa.

ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent AUTOMATIC VENT CLOSURE Charles J. Roos, Muskegon, Mich.

Application June 10, 1952, Serial No. 292,765

1 Claim. (CI. 98-68) This invention relates to a pressure responsive vent closer and has for its primary object to close a vent or stack when the pressure of the surrounding atmosphere attains a predetermined value as may result from a bomb blast.

Another object is to quickly alter the position of the vent closer to place its pivoted side to windward in event of excessive air pressures to one side of the stack or vent.

A further object is to employ the effort of the rapidly moving air to close the vent or stack.

The above and other objects may be attained by employing this invention which embodies among its features a ring-shaped carriage mounted atop of a stack for rotation about the axis of the vent extending through the stack, a cover pivotally mounted on the carriage adjacent one side thereof and adapted to close the vent in the stack, means carried by the cover and projecting beyond the pivoted side thereof for tilting the cover and holding it in vent opening position, a wind vane carried by the cover and projecting from the side thereof remote from the pivot for rotating the carriage about the axis of the vent to bring the hinged side of the cover to windward, and a vane carried by and extending upwardly from the cover adjacent the wind vane for closing the cover when the wind impinges on said vane.

Other features include a stop carried by the carriage for limiting the movement of the cover to open position, a weight carried by the cover for adjustment toward and away from the pivotal point thereof to select the amount of effort required to close the cover, and the last-mentioned vane being of concave-convex configuration with its concave side disposed toward the pivoted side of the cover.

In the drawings,

Fig. l is a fragmentary vertical sectional view through a stack showing this improved closer mounted thereon and certain parts of the closer being illustrated in section,

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a side view taken at right angles to Fig. l, and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view of the stack showing a modified form of closer mounted thereon.

Referring to the drawings in detail a stack S has extending therethrough and opening through the top thereof a vent V. Seated on the upper end of the stack and secured thereto by suitable fastening means is a trackway designated generally 12 which comprises a depending flange 14 carrying adjacent its upper edge an inwardly extending flange 16 which is adapted to seat on the top edge of the stack as will be readily understood upon reference to the drawings. Carried by the inner edge of the flange 16 is an upwardly extending annular flange 18 carrying adjacent its upper edge an outwardly extending annular flange 20 which forms an annular trackway about which the carriage to be more fully hereinafter described rotates.

The carriage above referred to comprises an annular channel 22 which is mounted on the trackway 20 for rotation about the axis of the vent opening V, and carried by and extending outwardly from the carriage 22 is a stop arm 24. Carried by and extending upwardly from the carriage 22 adjacent the stop arm 24 are spaced cars 26 having aligning openings extendinghorizontally therethrough for the reception of a pivot pin 28 by means of which a cover designated generally 30 is pivotally con- 2,7 04,503 Patented Mar. 22, 1955 "ice nected to the carriage 22. The cover 30 comprises a disk 32 carrying adjacent one side an outwardly extendmg car 34 having an opening extending therethrough for the reception of the pivot pin 28 in order to pivotally support the cover above the carriage 22 for movement in a vertical are from a horizontal position in which the vent V is closed to an upwardly inclined position in which the vent V is open to atmosphere. A suitable cushion 35 is carried by the cover 30 on the under side thereof for engagement with the top of the carriage 22 to effect a seal with the carriage when the vent is closed. Carried by the cover and extending upwardly therefrom are spaced eyes 36, the openings of which lie along a common axis which intersects a plane which lies perpendicular to the axis of the pivot pin 28.

Extending through the eyes 36 is an elongated externally screw threaded bar 38 upon which are threaded pairs of

clamp nuts

40 and 42 which as illustrated in Fig. l engage opposite sides of the eyes 36 to adjustably support the bar 36 in the eyes. As illustrated, the bar 38 extends beyond the pivoted edge of the cover 30 and has mounted for adjustment longitudinally thereon by clamp nuts 44 a counterweight 46 which as illustrated in the drawings is adapted to counterbalance the cover and other mechanism to yieldingly hold it open.

Carried by the bar 38 and extending longitudinally from the end thereof remote from the pivot 28 is an arm 48 carrying at its end remote from the bar a wind vane 50 which when the cover is tilted to open position extends substantially horizontally so that air pressure impinging thereon will rotate the carriage 22 about the track 20 to bring the pivoted side of the cover 30 to windward. Extending upwardly from the arm 48 is a post 52 carrying at its upper end a concave-convex vane 54, the concave side of which is disposed toward the pivoted side of the cover 30 so that air pressure exerted on the vane 54 will cause the cover 30 to move downwardly against the effort of the counterweight 46 and close the open end of the vent V. A suitable brace bar 56 is connected to the vane 54 and to the arm 58 between the vane 50 and the post 52 in order to reinforce the vane 54.

In the modified form of the invention illustrated in Fig. 4 the stack S is formed with a vent V which opens through the top thereof, and seated on the top of the stack in encircling relation with the vent is a cap 12' carrying an annular trackway 20 from which extends outwardly an arm 24 and to which is pivotally connected by a pivot 28' a cover 30' carrying upwardly extending eyes 36'. The structure so far described is identical with that previously set forth but instead of a threaded bar 38, a smooth bar 58 is employed which is weldedas at 60 to the eyes 36'. A counterweight 62 is also welded as at 64 to the bar 58 in place of the counterweight 46 and the bar 58 carries a wind vane and a cover closing concave-convex vane adjacent the end thereof remote from the weight 62 which correspond to the

vanes

50 and 54.

In use it will be evident that in employing the structure illustrated in Figs. 1 through 4 inclusive the bar 38 may be adjusted longitudinally through the eyes 36 by turning the adjusting

nuts

40 and 42, also the counterweight 46 may be adjusted by turning the adjusting nuts 44 in order to effect the retention of the cover 30 in open position and responsive to closing under a predetermined wind pressure. When a bomb blast occurs in the vicinity of a stack S protected with a stack closure of the type herein disclosed, it is evident that the high pressure and velocity of the air will cause the vane 50 to rotate the carriage 22 on the trackway 20 to move the pivoted edge of the cover 30 to windward. Obviously as the pivot 28 moves to windward, the pressure of the atmosphere on the concavo-convex vane 54 will cause the bar 38 to tilt about the axis of the pivot pin 28 and move the cover 30 to closing position with relation to the vent V. In this way noxious gases and the like will be excluded from the vent V and prevented from entering a building structure or the like, or a furnace therein and starting fires.

While in the foregoing there has been shownand described the preferred embodiment of this invention it is to be understood that minor changes in the details of construction combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed is:

A vent closer comprising a trackway adapted to be connected to a vent stack in encircling relation to the vent thereof, a ring shaped carriage mounted on the track to rotate about the axis of the vent, a cover pivoted adjacent one side to the carriage for movement about a horizontal axis adjacent one side of the vent from a substantially horizontal vent closing position to a tilted position in which the vent is open, spaced cars carried by and extending upwardly from the cover, said ears having aligning openings therein which lie along an axis lying above the cover and in a plane that extends perpendicular to the axis of the pivot, an elongated screw threaded rod extending through the opening, nuts threadedly engaging the rod on opposite sides of the ears for holding said rod in a selected position with relation to the cover, a counterweight mounted on the rod for adjustment longitudinally thereon on the side of the pivot remote from the cover for tilting the cover, a stop carried by the carriage and projecting laterally therefrom beneath the rod for engaging the rod and arresting movement thereof under the influence of the counterweight, a wind vane carried by the rod on the side of the cover remote from the counterweight for rotating the carriage and moving the pivoted side of the cover to windward, a concave-convex cover closing vane carried by the rod and extending upwardly therefrom adjacent the wind vane, and the concave side of said cover closing vane being disposed toward the pivoted side of the cover, said cover closing vane being adapted to move the cover into vent closing position when the velocity of the wind impinging on said vane exceeds a predetermined value.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 15,779 Royce Sept. 23, 1856 1,222,394 Grimes Apr. 10, 1917 1,256,917 MacWilliams Feb. 19, 1918 1,263,912 Lyle Apr. 23, 1918 1,648,182 Kelm Nov. 8, 1927