US295585A - Geoege w - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

G. W. RICHARDSON.

APPARATUS POR TESTI-NGV SAFETY VALVES. No'.l2-95,585. Patented Mar. 25, 1884.

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Il'Nirnn Sra'rns PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE W. RICHARDSON, OE BOSTON, MASS., ASSIGNOR TO THE CONSOLI- DATED SAFETY VALVE COMPANY, OF HARTFORD, CONN. i

APPARATUS FOR TESTING SAFETY-VALVES.

SPECIFICATION forming partv of Letters Patent No. 295,585, dated March 25, 1884.

V l Application filed February 21, 15.183.V (No model.)

.To all whom it may oon/cern.-

Be it known that I, .GEORGE WV. RICHARD- SON, of Boston, county of Suffolk, and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in `Apparatus `for Testing Safety-Valves, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

My invention has relation to apparatus or means intended to be used in testing safetyvalves. These valves, when finished, are usually set to blow off under steam-pressure of a certain degree, and have heretofore been tested and adjusted by applying one after another upon an ordinary steam-boiler, noting the pressure at which they blow off, and also the pressure at the instant they close under the action of the spring, and regulating the tension of the spring until the required action is secured. In making these tests according to former methods, the fire under the boiler is required to be regulated, the damper opened, and the lire banked or covered and otherwise manipulated so as to obtain the desired steampressure. This management of the fire scriously interferes with the use of the boiler for other purposes, and frequently compels `the boiler to be given up for the sole purpose` of testing, and all this at the expense of time, attendance, and fuel. In the use of the large boiler for testing purposes,the temperature of the water therein must be reduced a certain number of degrees before the valves can close down after blowing, and as the volume of water is generally large this reduction and subsequent elevation of temperature effects a further loss in fuel.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple, cheap, and eiicient apparatuswhereon the valves may be tested and regulated, preserving within itself all the conditions of steam and waterV as in the ordinary boiler, wherein without interfering with other uses for which the main boiler may be intended, effecting a large saving in fuel, dispensing with any extra attendance,`and greatlyfacilitating the op- `5o eration of testing the valves.

the heat and pressure may be regulated at will To accomplish all of this my invention involves the provision of a vessel or boiler of any suitable size without regard to the size of the main boiler, whereon are the steam-gages,wa ter-cocks, and all necessary appendages, same as on the main boiler, this supplemental vessel being arranged to be heated by steam from any source, and certain novel and useful relative arrangements or combinations of parts and peculiarities of construction, all of which 6o will be herein rst fully described, and then pointed out in the claims. i

In the accompanyingdrawing, forming part of this specification, I have shown a sectional elevation 0f au apparatus constructed and ar- 65 ranged to operate in accordance with my invention.

lA is the shell of the supplemental boiler or apparatus, ,within which steam and water are confined, Y 7o B is a valve governing a communication with the interior of the vessel, and its casing or the bushing therein affording a seat for the safety-valve to be tested. Any number of these valves B may be employed.

C represents a safety-valve in position.

For convenience ofapplying safety-valves of different sizes, I provide reducers, as a, by which the threaded seat or joint in casing of valve B may be contracted, as will bereadily understood. Corresponding arrangements may be made so as to afford a seat or joint for a safety-valve having a male or female screw at the base thereof, the principles being the same in all cases.

D D D are gage-cooks by which the height of water in the vessel may be determined. The ordinary water-tube (not shown) may also be applied, if desired.

E is a steam-gage, of any ordinary pattern, by which the pressure within the vessel is indicated. Any required number of gages may be applied. This apparatus may be located at any point above or below, near to or remote from, the steam-boiler which supplies the heat or steam, and thus afford a convenience in respect to location, for testing not hitherto possible with the ordinary boilen F is a steam-pipe connecting the improved apparatus with any boiler, and serving to suproo ply the requisite heat. It has a valve, f, by Which the fiow of steam may be cut off or regulated at any instant, and thus the heat and pressure within the apparatus be governed easily, accurately, and quickly.

According to the size of valve being tested, the amount of Water in the Vessel is regulated (the larger the valve the more water is needed) and steam introduced, bringing this water to the required temperature, and there are then in the apparatus all the conditions of water, heat, and pressure, the same as in the ordinary boiler. The pressure at which the valve rises or commences to blow is readoft' from the gage, and also the pressure at which the valve closes down, and the tension of the valve-spring is adjusted accordingly. The small quantity of water in the vessel will diminish in temperature much more rapidly than the larger quantity in the main boiler,

. and will be restored again more quickly and `with less expenditure of` heat or fuel. Thus the tests may be made, and after adjustment be repeated with great rapidity and quite economically. p

In order to insure rapid heating of the water in the vessel by the incoming current of steam, I prefer to employ a heater-pipe, as G, in the bottom of the vessel. This pipe is perforated at bottom, and the entering steam mingles with the water and escapes from the pipe through the perforations along its lower line, thus effectually and thoroughly heating all the water in the vessel; and to further facilitate the heating I may employ the pipe II, communicating with the interior of the vessel. This I term a runaround77 With it the end of the entering steam-pipe is formed into a nozzle,which prpjects into the heater pipe, being located over one end of the runaround. The current of steam on its way to the heater-pipe carries with it (on the principle ofthe injector) a quantity of water from pipe H, the same being constantly replaced by water from the bottom of the vessel. This makes a rapid circulation of the water and facilitates the heating process.

Although this provision for circulation is advantageous and desirable, and is a subordinate feature of my invention, I desire it understood that the apparatus may be employed without it, or with some other system for producing circulation,and still be within the main principles of my invention; but in anyevent the conduit for steam from the main boiler should discharge its steam into the apparatus below the level of the water in said apparatus, in order that the advantages of heating the water may be attained as above set forth.

The apparatus constructed and arranged for operation substantially in accordance with the foregoing explanations is found in practice to admirably answer all the purposes or objects of my invention, as previously stated. Vith my improved apparatus, even if the main boiler be used for testing purposes alone, the pressure in it can be kept at any degree above that at which the valves to be tested are desired to blow off, and the care of the firing would be little compared with that required in the old manner of testing on the ordinary boiler.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-` 1. In an apparatus for testing safety-valves, f

the heater-pipe located in the lower part of the shell, perforated on its under side, and arranged to receive steam from a remote boiler,

substantially as and for the purposes set forth. 2. In an apparatus for testing safety-valves, the combination, with the shell and heaterpipe, 'of a supplementary pipe or run-around and a nozzle upon the steam-pipe, located and arranged substantially as shown, so as to produce a circulation of water, for the purposes and objects explained'.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of

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