US2746560A - Water muffler - Google Patents

Description

May 22, 1956 w. H. ARNOLD ETAL WATER MUFFLER Filed Dec. 27, 1952 INVENTORS. WILLIAM H. ARNOLD BY SAMUE L H. COTTRELL ATTYS.

United States Patent WATER MUFFLER William H. Arnold and Samuel H. Cottrell, Battle Creek, Mich., assignors to Clark Equipment Compar Buchanan, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Application December 27, 1952, Serial No. 328,222

6 Claims. (Cl. 181-52) Our present invention relates generally to mufilers and, more specifically, is directed to a rnufiler which employs a liquid for cooling the exhaust gases of a prime mover.

It is an object of our present invention to provide a muffler wherein the rate of evaporation of the cooling liquid employed therein is maintained at a minimum.

it is another object of our present invention to provide a mufller wherein the rate of absorption of droplets of the cooling liquid, by the exhaust gases passing through the mufller, is maintained at a minimum.

It is a further object of our present invention to provide a muffler wherein the cooling liquid contained therein will not be discharged through the inlet or outlet ports of the mu'liler when the latter is vibrated.

In order to accomplish the foregoing objects, we provide a mufiler housing into which extends a vertical cylinder closed at its upper end. The mufller housing is partially filled with a cooling liquid, such as water. The liquid is free to rise in the cylinder and assumes a level common with the level of the liquid in the housing. An inlet tube extending into the cylinder, at the upper end thereof, directs exhaust gases toward a deflector disc which has the effect of swirling the gases across the surface of the cooling liquid contained in the cylinder. The gases are then permitted to pass upwardly and out of an exhaust tube extending from the cylinder.

Since only the surface of the water within the cylinder is exposed to the exhaust gases, there is maintained a high ratio between the total volume of water contained in the muitler housing and the surface of the water exposed to the exhaust gases. it is because of this high ratio that first, the rate of evaporation of the cooling liquid in the mulller is maintained at a minimum and, second, the rate of absorption of droplets of the cooling liquid by the exhaust gases passing through the mufiler is maintained at a minimum. Furthermore, by keeping the surface of the cooling liquid in a relatively small and confined area, large wavelets in the liquid are prevented from being formed upon vibration of the muffler, and, thus, the cooling liquid is prevented from being discharged during splashing, through the inlet or outlet ports of the mufller. in addition, the deflector, which is maintained within the cylinder, serves to prevent the gases from impinging directly on the surface of the cooling liquid. If the gases were permitted to impinge directly on the surface of the cooling liquid, before being retarded by the deflector, the etfect would be to cause the liquid to rise on the sides of the cylinder and be discharged through the inlet and outlet ports.

Now, in order to acquaint those skilled in the art with the manner of constructing and using water mufflers in accordance with the principles of our present invention, we shall describe in connection with the accompanying drawing, a preferred embodiment of our present invention.

The single figure of the drawing shows an isometric view of the water muffler of our present invention.

Referring now to the drawing, there is shown the Water mufller of our present invention which comprises a generally rectangular housing 10. The housing 10 may be fabricated of sheet metal with a suitable cover member 11 being secured along the upper edges of the housing or tank 10. A cylindrical opening is formed in the cover member 11 and extending through this opening is a generally vertically extending cylinder 12 which is closed at its upper end but open at its lower end.

The horizontal leg of an inlet tube 13 extends through the side wall of the cylinder 12, at the upper end thereof. The tube 13 is formed with two elbows in order that the inlet tube 13 may terminate in a vertical leg within the cylinder 12. Thus, the direction of flow of the exhaust gases entering the inlet tube 13 is translated from horizontal to vertical. A flange 14 is suitably secured to the outer end of the horizontal leg of the inlet tube 13 and the flange 14 is adapted for mounting to the end of an exhaust pipe of a prime mover.

A pair of vertically spaced cylindrical bafile plates 15 and 16 are disposed within the cylinder 12 and are secured at their outer peripheries to the inner periphery of the cylinder 12. The lower plate 15 is formed with a central opening 17 which is secured to the lower end of the vertical leg of the inlet tube 13. The upper plate 16 is formed with a central opening 18 through which cxtends the vertical leg of the inlet tube 13.

The plate 15 is provided with a plurality of small openings l9 and the plate 16 is formed with a plurality of small openings 2%. The axes of the openings 19 and 20 are misaligned for a purpose to be discussed more fully hereinafter.

A horizontal, circular, fiat, deflector disc 21 is suspended vertically below the lower end of the vertical leg of the inlet tube 13 by means of a horizontal strap member 22 which is secured at its ends to the inner peripheral wall of the cylinder 12.

A horizontal tube 23 is secured to the side of the cylinder 12, at the upper end thereof, and communicates with the interior thereof.

An opening 24 is formed in the cover member 11 and a cooling liquid, such as water, is poured through the opening 24 for partially filling the mufiler housing 10. The liquid poured into the mufier housing 10 is free to rise in the cylinder 12 and the liquid therein assumes a level common with the level of the liquid in the housing ill). The level of the liquid is maintained slightly below the position of the deflector disc 21.

in the operation of the above described water mufiler of our present invention, exhaust gases are admitted to the horizontal end of the inlet tube 13. The exhaust are then conducted through the inlet tube 13 and directed toward the upper surface of the deflector disc 21. The deflector disc 21 has the eflect of swirling the gases about the lower end of the cylinder 12 across the top of the liquid confined therein. The hot gases, con tacting the surface of the liquid, are cooled, after which the gases are permitted to pass upwardly through the misaligned openings 19 and 20, in the plates 15 and 16, and hence through the exit tube 23. The misaligned openings 19 and 2t) serve to diffuse the cooled gases before the latter are discharged through the exit tube 23.

The mufiler of our present invention meets the fourhour underwriting test of maintaining surface temperatures of the exhaust gases below a maximum of C. (347 F.) as required of mufilers incorporated with industrial equipment.

it is to be noted that the cross-sectional area of the rectangular rnufiler housing 10 is quite large when compared with the cross-sectional area of the cylinder 12. As a consequence, a high ratio is maintained between the total volume of cooling liquid and the surface of the liquid exposed to the exhaust gases. Since only a small area of the surface of the cooling fluid is exposed to the exhaust gases, the rate of evaporation of the cooling liquid is maintained at a minimum. 'for 'the same reason, the rate of absorption of droplets of the cooling liquid by the exhaust gases passing through the muffler is maintained at a minimum.

' It isto be further observed that since the cross-sectional area of the water exposed in the cylinder 12 is quite small, vibrations of the muflier housing 11 cannot create such large wavelets, in the exposed liquid surface within the cylinder 12, as to cause the liquid to be discharged, during splashing, through the inlet or outlet ports of the m'utfler. The deflector disc 21 not only serves to swirl the gases within the cylinder 12 but also serves to retard gases and to prevent heavy blasts of gases from impinging directly upon the water.

Now, while we have shown and described what we believe to be a preferred embodiment of our present inyention, it is to be understood that various rearrangements and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of our present invention.

We claim:

1. In a muffler comprising a housing having cooling liquid therein, an inlet tube extending downwardly through the top wall of said housing, an outlet tube, a deflector disc underlying said inlet tube in spaced parallelism with the liquid, and said inlet tube being adapted to direct gases in the process of expansion toward said deflector disc which causes the gases to be swirled across the surface of the liquid at a velocity less than the inlet velocity of said gases and Without impeding the expansion thereof preliminary to the gases being exhausted up- Wardly through the top wall of said housing via said outlet tube.

2. In a mufller comprising a housing having cooling liquid therein, a vertical cylinder extending into said housing and having an open lower end to permit liquid to rise therein, an inlet tube extending through the side wall of said cylinder, an outlet tube communicating with said cylinder, a deflector disc interposed between said inlet tube and the surface of the liquid within said cylinder and being spaced above the liquid, and said inlet tube being adapted to. direct gases in the process of expansion toward said deflector disc which causes the gases to be swirled across the surface of the liquid at a velocity less than the inlet velocity of said gases and without impeding the expansion thereof preliminary to the gases being exhausted through said outlet tube.

3. The combination of claim 2 wherein bafl'le plates are disposed within said cylinder intermediate of the surface of the liquid and said outlet tube for diffusing the cooled gases prior to being exhausted through said outlet tube.

4. In a mufller comprising a generally rectangular housing having cooling liquid therein, a generally vertically extending cylinder extending into said housing and having a lower open end into which the liquid is permitted to rise, an inlet tube projecting through the side wall of said cylinder and hence vertically downwardly within said cylinder, an outlet tube extending from said cylinder and communicating therewith, a deflector disc suspended directly below the end of said inlet tube by means of a strap member secured at the ends thereof to the side walls of said cylinder, said deflector disc being arranged above the surface of the liquid within said cylinder, vertically spaced baffle plates secured to and extending radially from the vertical portion of said inlet tube, and said inlet tube being adapted to direct gases in the process of expansion toward said deflector disc which causes the gases to be swirled across the surface of the liquid at a velocity less than the inlet velocity of said gases and without impeding the expansion thereof preliminary to the gases being diffused by said baflie plates and exhausted through said outlet tube.

5. A muffler of the type employing liquid for cooling exhaust gases of a prime mover, comprising a housing, an inlet tube extending downwardly into said housing, an outlet tube, a planar deflector disc underlying the discharge end of said inlet tube and adapted to deflect and swirl gases in the process of expansion across the surface of liquid carried within said housing prior to the exhaust thereof through said outlet tube.

6. A muflier of the type employing liquid for cooling exhaust gases of a prime mover, comprising a housing, an inlet tube extending downwardly into said housing, a chamber means within said housing confining the discharge of gases from said inlet tube, a deflector disc at the lower end of said chamber means opposite and underlying the discharge end of said inlet tube, an outlet tube communicating with said chamber means, said deflector disc serving to swirl expanding gases across the surface of liquid within said chamber means at a retarded velocity without appreciable decrease of the expansion rate thereof prior to their exhaust through said outlet tube.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,015,367 Richard Sept. 24, 1935 2,365,846 Seaborne Dec. 26, 1944 2,612,235 Schreeck Sept. 30, 1952 2,625,383 Baird Jan. 13, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 497,780 France Dec. 17, 1919

Images