US287634A - Heney croft - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

H. 8R0PT,J1-.

' 'POWER GONVERTBR.

No. 287,884.l s Patented ome. 8o, 1888.

t einer vi-ninnv onori, Jn., onsrninGrin-Ln, onio;

y@nuts-ctentare. l l

SFEIIFIGATION forming Tunai? inkom, t may concern/.3

Be itxknown'that I, HENRY Cnonndr., -a

citizen ofthe United States, residing at Springi field; in the county of Clarke and State of Uhio', have invented certain new and useful improvements in Power-Converters, of which the following isa full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification. 1o My invention relates to that class of powerconverters especially designed for wind-engines, for the-purpose of converting the reciprocating motion of the pump-rod into rotary motion for driving machinery, the .general u I 5 principles of construction of which will bel found in my prior Patents No. 253,515, of February 14, 1882, and No. 256,465, of. April 18, 1882, and the object of my present invention is twofold: First, to provide a novel means,y 2o for preventing the., jars and concussione inci.

dent to the'sudden starting and unequal speed of the wind-wheel, which I accomplish by employing spring-couplings to unite the divided end Of the pumpfrod, or of the pawl or clutch driving beams, or both, as Amay be desired; second, to dispense Awith pawls' and ratchets, in which there is always lost motion, and which make more or less noise, and to substitute a positive friction-grip which is noiseless and 3o very effective.

To this end the novelty consists, first, inthe combination,with one or more ofthe divided reciprocating beams, of interposed spring-couplings, whereby said beams are rendered longi- 3 5 tudinally elastic; secondly, in the combination,

with a circular disk or wheel having peripheral anges on both sides, and keyed or otherwise fastened to the driving-shaft, of a jointed vibrating clutch mechanism adapted tograsp 4o and firmly hold the flanges of the disk or wheel on the upward stroke', and to become self-disengaged on the downward; thirdly, in the de-- tails of construction and combination. of the parts, all as will be herewith set forth and spe- In ,the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of apower-converter containing my improvements. Fig. 2 is a front view of the same. Fig. 3 is an enlarged side elevation of one of the driving-disks and clutch mechanism. Fig. 4is a similar detailed view to better illustrate'the actionof the gripping part of Letters *raient no., 287,634, dated october feo, ieee. nppnouuonnna .mae 1s, :lesa (ne mism.)

mechanism. Fig. 5` is an enlarged detailed l. view in frontelevati'on of one of the springcouplings. f l" i 55 The same letters of reference are used to 1ne dicate likeparts in all lthe figures.` l

A represents any suitable frame-work, in

which is jonrnaled the shaft B, carrying the main driving-wheels C, and on eachend the 6.o

driving-disks D. These `disks and the driving-wheels are keyedor otherwise suitably fastened to the shaft; i E E are the beams, pivoted at their upper ends by suitableflinks tothe walking-beam F,

`which is actuated by the pump-rod ory other reciprocating prime mover G. The lower ends of the Vbeams E E are suitably pivoted to the toggle-arm of the clutch or gripping mechanism. i l 1 7o The above parts, with-the exception 4offthe' clntchior gripping mechanismymay bev constructedas shown in my patents abovereferred to, or in any other-.suitable manner. a f Itis well known that windmills r-un 'at very irregular speeds, sometimes starting rapidly and very suddenly with-great force. Where` the connections are rigid, more or less damage is apt to result by reason of the resistance ofy fered. To prevent this damage and breakage 8o l employ the spring-couplings'sl'iown more particularly in Fig. 5, each ofwhich couplings, where more than one is used, is composedl oi the upper flanged socket,` a, and the lower perforated cross-head, b. This lowercross-head is united to the flanges ofthe socket a by meansof two or more guide-rods, c, upon which coiled springs d are iitted, as shown. Upon the upper ends of these springs, and also surrounding the rods c, so as to play thereon, is a crosshead, e, to whichv is centrally attached, by a' head or nut, f, the pendent rod or -link g,' which passes down centrally between the rods e, through the lower cross-head, h, uponwhich the lower-ends of the springs rest, and has 95 at itslower end ashoulder,which,while playing freely through the cross-head b, bears against theu'nder sideof the cross-head h. The lower extremity of the rod g is formed with any suitable coupling, e', by whichV it is bolted or pivoted to the lower end of the 'pump-rod, or directly to thel walking-beam, or, in case of the.' beams E, to'their lower divisions, or directly to the toggle-arm of the pawl or 'clutch mech- IOO f' cross-heads e and h.

4ticular form of thespring-coupling described,

' pas in that particularit may be varied .infinite-1 ly; but I have describedwhat I consider the" best fornnfor the purpose..

anism, as will be readily understood by reference to Fig. 2.

Between the flanges ofthe socket a and the c'ross-heade are tension-adjusting' nuts j, upon 5 the rods c, by means of which the initial tension or compression of the springs d may beregulated at will. If desired, the rod g maybe encompassed by a coiledspring between tle upper division of the pump-rod G, or of the beams E, or both, as seen in Figs.- 1 and 2. vThe lower extremityof the socket a is recessed, as at k, to permit the passage into it of the head 5 f of the ma g. now, it wint@ observen from the above construction that the .springs d will always be compressed between the cross-heads e and h, no matter whether the resistancejis: entirely above or entirely below, or partly above and partly below, and an effectual sprin'gcoupling is obtained which will receive and;

' neutralize the shocks orjars caused by the? l sudden starting of thej wind-wheel; As before stated, but one of these spring-couplings may 5 be employed, if `located upon thepumpmod, `or

if it is not'desired to have 'it upon the pump'- rod one maybe employed for each of the beams E, or botli of the beams E andthe pump-rod -may .be provided with spring-couplings.

I kilo-not propose tov limit myself tothe parf .N0w, referring to theclutch .or gripping:

mechanism, (shownmo're particularly in Figs. l3 and 4,)'1 will thus vdescribe itijfIhe drivingdisks .D are provided on eachside withpei; ripheral flanges l, and embracing theselilanges on each side are links H,- united by a bolt, m, where they straddle the periphery of the drivingldisk. These links H have engaging-jaws .n c, so curved as to lit, the former over and the latter under the flanges Z, as seen i'nFigA. vrIhe outer ends of the links H are pivoted at p to the toggle-lever I, whose outer end is in turn pivoted at '1' to the lower end of the. beam E by" means of any suitable connecting-link. The end of the toggle I- -neXt vto the periphery of the driving-disks is curved, so as Vto""conform "tothe circle of thedriving-disk between the pcint'sisand 2. Above the point 1 the knuckle of the toggle-is extended for a purpose to' be i hereinafter described Toa pendent ear, 3,"upon the under side of the head of the toggle I?, is 'adj ustably bolted a checkfshoe, t, of the shapc'shown.V By reference tov Fig. 2 it will Ibe seen that the adja cent faces of the ears and check t are oblique` or inclined, by means of which they cannot get out of adjustment by turning on their connecting-bolt without first loosening the nut of the. same, and thus a very secure and rigid lock is formed between them.A From this construe' tion, andby reference to Fig. 4, it .Will be seen that upon each upward stroke `of the toggle I c The socket d is bolted ortotherw'ise fastened to the lower end 'of the.

the point l impinges upon the periphery of the diskD, and throws the pivotal pointp out from the periphery of the disk. This .throwing out from the pivot on a radial line causes the links H to be elevated attheir rear ends,and causes thejaws n and o to grip the flanges l, the formerl on the upper side at; 3 and the latter on the lower side at 4L This action will be readily understood by reference to the dotted lines contained in Fig. 4. In this way a most rigid and effective lock is formed between the tog- .gle I, links H, and disk D on every upward strokeof the beam' E. A s soon as this motion 'is reversed, as 4onth'e downstroke, the curved portion of the head of the toggle between .the points 1 and -2'againl conforms -to the periphery ofthe disk D and releases the grip of the link H, so that theyvwithfthetoggle, can slide back .to re-engage the periphery and flanges o f the disk at a lower point when the upstrokenls re;

peated.

` The employment of the cheekshoe t is a safeguard to prevent the locking of thejaws 'n o in ease 'the reversal-of the upstroke is very-quick .and sudden, in which event. the point 2 would, rby the contact of the check-shoe with the pe- .riphery of the disk, be prevented from throw- -ing up the rear ends of the links H, as will 'readily understood.

The object of the extension of thel head of the eamabovel the 'point-lis to provide for Wear, for as the-head wears its concavity will- ...extend upward intotheextension of the metal, 'and as the jaws n o wear also the relation of 'the pivotalupoints will always be'maintained j' the same relatively, even after wear, so that no adiustment Aof the parts is required to accommodate wear, except the adjustment of the .check-shoe, which can be readily enected. In l this way I secure a positive locking-grip without lost motion and without noise, andas there are two of these alternately acting clutch IOO mechanisms the revolutions of thedriving.-

wheel are continuous.

` Having thusfullydescribed my invention, Y

I claiml. *Ina powereonverter, the combination, ywith a reciprocating prime mover, .transverse relatively arranged substantially in the mauner andfor the purpose specified.

3. The' combination, with a circular driving diskor wheel provided with peripheral flanges,

- of gripping-links embracing both the upper IIO and under lsides of said flanges and actuated by a `cam or toggle-leverpivoted to said links, substantially as describe y f4. The combination, With circular driving disk or Wheel provided with'peripheral anges,

of gripping-links provided with jaws embracing both the .upper 'and ,under side 'of said flanges, and pivoted to a cam or toggle-lever suitably united to the actuating mechanism, substantially as described;

' 5. The combination, with a circular driving disk or wheel provided with peripheralilanges, of Vgripping-links embracing both theupper and under side of said anges, and a cam or toggle-lever pivoted to saidplinks and adapted to engage with the periphery of said drivin; disk, provided on its under side with an a justable check-shoe, substantially as described. 6. In the clutch mechanism of power-converters, the cpmbination, with the grippinglinks H, adapted to engage Withl peripheral anges on the driving-disk, of thetoggle-lever I, whose head is provided Witha concavity to conform to the periphery of the driving-disk, substantially as described.

lsubstantially as described.

. verters, the combination,

`7. In a clutch mechanism of power-converters, vthe combination, withthe gripping-links H, adapted to engage with the peripheral Y flanges on the driving-disk, of the toggle-lever I, Whose head is provided with a concavityto. conform to the periphery of the. driving-disk, and with an extension of the metal above said concavity, whereby Wear is accommodated,

HENRY CROFT, JR.

Witnesses: GUs. A. MEYER, E. W, RECTOR. c

Images