US280997A

US280997A - Air-compressor

Info

Publication number: US280997A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1883-07-10
Anticipated expiration: 1900-07-10

Description

(No Model.)

W. A. BABCOGK.

Am GOMPRBSSQR,

Patented July 10, 1883.

Jai-22656.23; f:

Smrrs PATENT Ormes.,

VILLIAM A. BABCOOK, OF SOUTH COVENTRY, CONNECTICUT.

AIR-COMPRESSOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 280,997, dated July 10, 1853. Application filed January iS, 1882. (No model.)

1o supply-pipes, and adapted to force or compress air into barrels of beer, &c., to expel the liquor therefrom to the beeretaps. Several kinds of such compressors are now made. In some kinds the pumping or air-compressing i vessels, into which thewater rises to compress the air, are mounted on a rocking beam,which sways up and down as the vessels alternately..

iill and empty, while in other cases but one large stationary vessel is used, which incloses` 2o a iloatwhich operates the water inlet and outlet valves by its rise and fall, so as to at first admit the inow of water to compress and en pel the air, and thence shift the valves to allow the outow'of the waste and the inilow of an- 2 5 other charge of air.

My present improvement relates to the lat' ter class of compressors; and it oonsists,main ly, in the combination, with the inlet and outlet valves and the rocking lever which shifts` 3o them, of a float which operates the rocking lever and a spring connected at one end with the swinging end of the rocking lever and fixed at the other end at a point beyond the pivot of the lever, whereby the lever is caused 3 5 to energetically shift the valves by the action of the spring when brought past its dead-center by the action of the float.

My improvement also consists in the special construction .of the water-inletand air-inletl 4o valves, and in details connected with the valve mechanism, and in other features, as hereinafter fully set forth.

Figure l of the drawings annexed presents a longitudinal section of my improved aircompressor; and Fig. 2 presents a cross-see tion thereof on line x looking to the left.

In the drawings, a. c indicate the chamber or casing of the pump, which is adapted to form a stationary air and water tight tank or 5o vessel, with, of course, suitable valveinlets and outlets. This vessel or chamber may be constructed of metal, glass, porcelain, or any other brass, in two sections, c c', the lower one bting in shape that of a shallow tray, with sup porting-legs b Z; and a flange, c, to meet with a similar ilange, c', on the upper section, a, by which the two sections are firmly secured together, a packing being introduced between the ilanges. The base is formed with a depression or pocket, e, at the end, in which the iioat moves, to allow said iioat to descend fully. The section a is tapering in form, as seen in Fig. 2, and is abruptly narrowed at the top, j ust above the water-line, for a purpose here inafter stated. moves, however, the section a is enlarged and terminates in a dome, f, to give room for the ascent of the iloat, as represented in Fig. 1 and by dotted lines in Fig. 2, but these particular shapes are not essential. On the bottom ofthe lower section, c, is affixed an upright hollow post, g, which forms the casing of the water-inlet valve, and is perforated with a vertical bore or port, y', which coincides with a holethrough the base, with which the watersupply pipe k connects, as seen in Figs. l and 2. The port g does not rise quite through the post, but is intersected near the top by a horizontalbore, g, which extends clear through the post, and in which is arranged a nicelytting cylindrical rod or sliding valve-plunger, t', which plunger, when drawn inward past the intersection of the port g', opens the waterway, as seen in Fig. l., and permits the water to flow into the chamber c c to expel the air therefrom, while when the plunger is slid outward past the intersection of the port g2 the watenway is closed and the flow into the chamber stopped, as will be understood. It will be noted that the port g expands into a cavity or recess around the plunger at the intersection with the bore g, as seen in section in Fig. 1 and dotted line in Fig. 2, thus allowing the waterpressnre to bear on all .sides of the plun ger, and thereby rendering it always balanced in its seat, whereby its motion becomes very easy and frictionless. A slot, f', is cut into the top of the post through the bore y, to reduce the amount of the bore encircling the plunger, and also permit any grain of sand or dirt which might get between the plunger suitable material; but I prefer to make it of cast At the end in which the oat into two branches, Z, which straddle or depend and the bore to soon iind its escape atthe slot by the motion of the plunger, thus enabling the valve to clean itself more readily and preventing grinding or cutting.

The valve-plunger Z' is connected by a link or connecting-rod, h, with the upright arm of an elbow-lever, s, pivoted near the base of the chamber, and fitted on its horizontal arm with a valve-disk, s', which covers the waste or eX- haust loutlet s, thus constituting the exhaustvalve. It will thus be seen that the water-in! let and the waste-outletV valves are directly connected together by the connecting-rod h, so that when the connectingrod is moved to the left the exhaust-valve is closed and the waterdnlet simultaneously opened, as seenl in Fig. 1, and when moved to the right the exhaust-valve will be opened and the watervalve closed, as will be understood. The valves are thus operated by a rocking lever, Z, and float m when actuated by the rise and fall of the water in the chamber, as willnow appear. This rocking lever Z is trunnioned between two standards, n, which rise from thebottom of the chamber on either side of the connectingrod h, as fully shown vin Figs. 1i and 2. The long arm of this lever Z projects upward, while its short arm projects downward, and is forked on either side of a lug, h, projecting laterally from the connecting-rod h, sufficient play'being allowed between the branches Z and the lug to allow the rocking lever to be raised to and a little beyond its dead center before either prong will closely approach the lug, as seen in Fig. 1. The lever m ofthe ball-float m is trunnioned in the standards n n just below the rocking lever Z, as seen best in Fig. 1, and the trunnioned end is forked into two branches, which project on either side of the rocking lever Z, and are provided with setscrews m, which may be adjustedl to or from the lever, so as to regulate the amount of play between them, as will be understood. Now, to the tip of the long arm of the rocking lever is fastened one end of along spiral spring, p, the lowerend of which vis connected with a pin projecting from the standards n in position vertically under the trunnions of the rocking lever and in line with the lever when on its dead-center, as seen in Fig. 1. This arrange-I ment of spring is duplicated on the opposite side of the lever, as seen in Fig. 2, so as to balance vthe lateral strain on the lever and make the device more effective, as will be appreciated.

It will now be readily understood from the previous description, and by reference to the drawings, that the mechanism is such that if the chamber be empty of vwater the iloat will be down and the rocking lever inclined to the right and the valves in the position shown in Fig. 1. The water will thus iiow into the chamair-outlet r. The air-outletisV covered by a collapsible or slit rubber valve, r', which opens into the nipple r, from which the compressed air is conducted by a connected tube to the beer-barrels orother vessels, as will be understood, and which valve, of course, closes against the back-pressure and prevents the return of the compressed air to the pump-chamber. As the iioat rises with the water it also raises the rocking leverl Z toits upright position,r at the same time straining the springs p p, and the parts are vvsoadjusted, that by the time the water hasarisen tofitsfull height, as seen'in Fig. 1, the., y'atlex'eii will vhave brought the rocking lev r'to its dead-center, or just a little beyond it", as seen jin' Fig; 1, and hence just as the lever passes -its -deadcenter the spring will now react andV pull it quickly and energetically tothe left, causing one of the branches on its forked"4 end lto strike the lug h on the connecting-.rod of the valves, and thus shift theivalves vso fas' tov open the exhaust outlet and closethe water-inlet; Consequently the water will 'now'run out of the chamber through the outlet s, and at the same time atmospheric air will enter at the top` through the vent-valve T. As the float descends it will shift the` rocking leverl in thel opposite position, and as the float approaches the end of its descent it willl bring the rocking lever past its dead-center, to the right, where the springs 1o p will now act to pull it'forcibly over to lthe right, and thus shift the valves inthe opposite direction, closing the exhaust and yopening the water-inlet, when the former actions will be repeated.

It will-now be noted that at the point where the water has risen to its full height in the chamber and has raised the float into the position: to shift the valves, as seen in Fig. 1 the upper part of the chamber will still contain a small quantity of compressed air, whose pressure will bear upon the exhaust-valve and offer f considerable resistance to its opening. Just at this point, however, this compressed air is allowed to escape through the relief-vent o, which is opened by the' rising of the float against the long end' of the lever n, pivoted in the top of the chamber,'and carrying a valvedisk on its short arm to control the vento,- as shown, therebyy removing the pressure from the exhaust-valve and allowing the valves to be shifted easily by the action ofthe rocking lever and its springs. The top of the pumpchamber, above the water-level, ishence made narrow, as before described, and shown in Fig. 2, so as to reduce as much as possible the amount of compressed'air'which. is thus allowed to escape. As soon as the'iioat descends, however, the relief-valve o immediately closes, as will beunderstood, and the air is drawn in through the vent-valve T, to supply the place ofthe outflowing water, as before described. This vent-valve has a simple and efficient construction, as may be now observed. It consists of .a metal block or'disk, t', screwed into the top of the pump-chamber and bored with IOO IIO

tivo parallel holes, c fv', the one, o, extending clear through, and the other, c, but partly through, and interseoted by a lateral bore, n, which opens into the air. Into this hole'fv is dropped a small rubber puppet or check valve of the shape shown, and onto the top of the block is screwed an air-tight cap, t, which forms a stop to limit the rise ot' the valve t and a passage between the holes o and 1o e. It will hence be observedfthat When the Water runs out of the pump-chamber the atmospheric air Will enter through the bore fu" and fu, lift the puppet t, and thence iioW down the bore 'o' into the pump-chamber.

I 5 The comp ressed-air outlet 1" is formed throng the top of an inverted cap or thiinble, w, which is tightly secured onthe top of the dome f of the pump-chamber, and in this thimbleis inclosed a buoyant ball-valve,.y. This ball normally rests on the top-of the dome andleaves the airbutlet o' unobstructed, the compressed air being thus free to pass from the pumpchamber through openings y on either side of the ball, and thence out through-the outlet and valve r 1". In case, however, the Water should ever rise in the pump-chamber beyond its usual height or up to the ball y, this ball will thence float up and close the air-outlet o', lthus preventing the possibility of the Water being forced out with the compressed air into the beenbarrels or other vessels.

By these combined features I am enabled t form a simple, compact, and reliable air-compressor, and one in which the important part simple in construction and quick and certain in a Weighted lever or inverted pendulum is used.

toshift the valves, instead of the spring-lever shown, the weighted end of the lever cannot be submerged, as the Weight would lthen lose a great portion of its effective gravity, and, furthermore, its motions would be resisted greatly by the Water. The Weight, to be effective, has hence to be placed at the top of the lever, above the water-level, and this in the Water, with a special dome or chamber for the-Weight to swing in. This construction therefore not only requires a larger case, but also causes the waste oi a large percentageof air at each action of the pump, for the increased air-space at the top represents exactly a corresponding increase of loss in the compressed air, in the same way that alarge clearof the valve mechanism is rendered peculiarly turn requires that the case be made high above.

ance in an engine-cylinder would represent a large loss of the motive iluid at each exhaust. 65

By the combination, however, ofthe spring or springs with the valve mechanism shown, this loss, together with the other obj ect-ions named,

is completely obviated, and a material improvement is thereby effected in pumps of 7o this class.

W'hat I claim is- 1. In a hydraulic air -pump substantially such as described, the combination, with a pump-chamber and with a valve or valves to control the iiow of Water into and out of the same, of the rocking lever Z, iioat m mf, and spring p, arranged and operating substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The post or casing g, formed with abore, g, extending through the same, and with a port, g', connected with the Water-supply, intersecting the bore g" and extending around A it, in combination with a sliding plunger, t', fitted to the bore g, and arranged to move to 8 5 and fro in the same, so as to retire Within the bore and uncover the port to permit the inflow and project through the bore and cover the port to stop the iniiow, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

8. The combination, with the sliding plunger @of the valve-casing g, formed with a bore in which said plunger is fitted, an induction-v port, g', intersecting said bore, and a lateral relief-slot, f, extending into said casiug,across 95 the'bore, and between the end of the casing, through which the plunger protrudes, and the port g', substantially as and for the purposeY set forth.

4. The air-vent valve T, consisting of the roo block t', formed with the ports o o c", in combination with the check or puppet valve tand cap t, substantially as herein shown and described.

5. In a hydraulic air-pump, the elbow-lever 105 s, having one arm acting as the exhaust-valve, in-combination with the connecting-rod h, connected at one end to the other arm of the elbow-lever, and with a water-inlet valve, i, connected with the opposite end of the con- 11o necting-rod, and with suitable means for operating the rod It and the valves there-With connected, substantially as herein shown and described.

6. In a hydraulic air-puuip, the combina- I i 5 tion of the connecting-rod 71., having the pro-. jection h, and arranged to operatively connect the water inlet and outlet valves, with the forked rocking lever l and mechanism for rocking the same, substantially as herein shown I 2O and described.

NVM. A. BABCOCK.

Vitnesses:

Fnnnnnion NUenN'r, Giras. M. HIGGINS.