US302607A - And benjamin - Google Patents

Description

3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

Patented July 29, 1884.

lhugraplmr. Washmglon, D. c.

(No Model.)

A. G. WATERHOUSE & B. B. BREWER.

REFRIGERATING MACHINE. No. 302,607.

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet A. G. WATERHOUSE 85 B. B. BREWER.

- REFRIGERATING MACHINE. I N0. 302,607. Patented July 29, 1884.

xgi.

3Sheets-Sheet 3 A. G. WATERHOUSE 8a B. B. BREWER.

(No Model.)

REFRIGERATING MACHINE.

No. 302,607. Patented July 29, 1884.

Maw,

rrrnn PATENT Curios.

ADDISON G. WATERI-IOUSE, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, AND BENJAMIN B. BREWER, OF SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNORS OF ONE-THIRD TO FRANK G. VVATERHOUSE, OF SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA.

REFFHGERATING MACHIINE.

EBPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 302,607, dated July 29, 1884-.

Application filed March 16, 1584. (No model.)

To ctZZ whom it may conce n.-

Be it known that we, ADDISON G. WATER- HOUSE, of the city of Hartford, State of Connecticut, and BENJAMIN B. BREWER, of the city of Sacramento, State of California, both citizens of the United States, have invented new and useful Improvements in Refrigerating-Machines, of which the following is a speci- Our invention relates to that class of refrigerating-machines in which cold is produced by means of the alternate compression and expansion of air or gases in which air is first compressed; second, cooled off while in a compressed state; third, allowed to expand,

and in so expanding made to perform work which is employed to assist in the work of compressing the air.

Our invention consists in the method by which work is performed by-the expanding air, and in the method by which such work is governed and the compressed air controlled, so as not to rise above or fall below a set pressure.

2 5 In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a side elevation of a machine embodying our invention. Fig. 2 is an enlarged side elevation of the cylinder and valve of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation of part of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a sectional plan of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a sectional detail.

In Fig. 1 is shown a shaft, S, with cranks c and a at each end, set diametrically opposite to each other. On the shaft is a heavy fly-wheel, F, and a pulley, 1?, through which power is transmitted to the machine. The shaft S is supported by the side frames of the two cylinders C and E. The crank e works a piston in cylinder C through the connect:

o ing-rod shown, while the crank C works a piston in cylinder E in the same manner, the cranks being set so that as one piston is moving up the other is moving down. The ebject of cylinder 0 is to compress airor gas, 5 (hereinafter we will call it all air,) and force it into the cooling-pipe H and the receivingehamber H, say, at a pressure of one hundred and fifty pounds per square inch. By thus I compressing air heat is being produced in the air in inverse proportion to the decrease of the volume of air by compression. This heat may be used in producing power by'causing part of the pipe H to run through the water used in the boiler of the driving-engine. By absorbing the heat in the pipe H by water or surrounding bodies we reduce the heat of the air in H until it has'been lowered to the tem perature of surrounding bodies, and has a pressure, say, of one hundred and fiftypounds to the square inch, less the amount due to the 6o decrease of heat, so that at every downward stroke of the piston of C a cylinderful of air is compressed and forced into the pipe H,where it is cooled off and stored in the receiver H, while at every upward stroke of the piston in cylinder E some compressed air is allowed to escape under the piston of the same, which, by pressure in entering and by its effort to ex pand, forces the piston of E upward, which imparts power to the fly-wheel F, and assists the 7c motor in compressing the air in C. After the air in E has expanded to its normal pressure, and all of its expanding force has been expended in raising the piston in E, the air, after having expanded, has decreased in temperature in- 7 5 versely as it has increased in volume, which renders it extremely cold, and in this condition it is exhausted or expelled into the pipe R, where it is used to absorb the heat of objects surrounding the pipe R--such as water to be So frozen-or for any of the purposes for which extremely cold air may be employed. The air in R can be conducted back and used over again by recompressing it in cylinder C or the pipe R may bedispensed with and the air from E may be allowed to escape for the purpose of cooling the surrounding air or for cooling the air in houses, rooms, &c. It will. be seen that in compressing the air in the pipe H to a pressure, say, of one hundred and fifty pounds to 9c the square inch a certain amount can be allowed to escape in the cylinder E for doing work. If too much escapes, the pressure in' H will be reduced by E faster than it can be supplied by C, and if too little is allowed to 5 escape in E the pressure in HE will increase until the piston in cannot be worked. To

vided with piston C,worked by crank 0.

avoid this and to maintain an even pressure in H, so that only the proper amount of air will enter E at every' stroke while still preserving a given pressure in the pipe H, is What constitutes the leading feature of our invention.

In Fig. 2, O is the compressing-cylinder, pro- At the bottom of O are two check-valves, r and 12, combined in one casting. The inlet-valve r is composed of rubber held in its place by the central nut, u, screwed around the central ejecting passage, 1). r rises, as shown, at every upward stroke of O, and admits the air through the pipe R and the annular recess V into the cylinder 0; but the air is prevented from returning by the falling of valve 1" during the downward stroke of C; but asthe air which has been drawn in G is compressed by the downward stroke of 0 it presses the valve 12 away from its seat and forces the air through the opening 1) into the pipe H. Valve 11, being a check-valve, prevents the escape of the air through the opening in which it entered. So it will be seen that at every upward stroke of the piston O the cylinder 0 is filled with air,

' and at every downward stroke the air is compressed and forced into pipe H,w ere it is cooled off and stored in the cha er H, as shown in Fig. 1. WVe will now assume that the air has been compressed to i of its normal volume and forced into pipe H and therein cooled off and at a pressure of one hundred and fifty pounds per square inch. WVe will also assume that at every stroke the cylinder E is filled nearly full of compressed air, wherein it expands at times, and in so doing does work, as before described. The result is an apparatus that, first, compresses the air; second, cools the compressed air off; third, uses the power exerted by the air in expanding to its original volume; fourth, makes use of the cooled condition of the expanded air for refrigerating purposes.

We do not claim, broadly, a machine that will perform the above functions, as we know that the same has been performed before; but the following features we claim as new:

In order to govern or control the pressure of air in the pipe H, and make use of the expansive effect of said compressed air in performing the greatest amount of work, as stated, and still maintaining the pressure in H at a given point, we use an automatic valve and gear, through the means of which the exact amount of air which can be allowed to escape at every stroke in the cylinder E is regulated by the pressure of air in the pipe H. This we accomplish as follows: In Figs. 3 and 4 is shown a cylinder, W, placed in the bed B.- This cylinder is provided with a cylindrical plunger, w, which is free to move up and down in the cylinder W, and is made air-tight by U or other suitable packing. Around the outside of the cylinder W is a closed recess,

(1, to which the air-tube 9 leads from the com pressed-air pipe H. In the bottom of the cylinder WV are small apertures m, which communicate from the cylinderVV to the recess 11. This recess is partly filled with oil, so that as the air enters through g into this recess (1 it presses upon the surface of the oil and "forces it through the apertures m up against the pis' ton 10, which causes w to rise and fall with the varyingpressure of the air in H. The plunger w is provided with a connecting-rod, w,which communicates to a lever, w. On the rod w or plunger 10 are placed weights t, which will correspond to any required pressure in Hsay one hundred and fifty pounds to the square inch. So if the pressure in H exceeds one hundred and fifty pounds, the plunger to will move up, and if it falls below one hundred and fifty pounds the plunger will be forced down by the weights t, so that the movement of u; will correspond to the pressure of the air in H. As 20 is connected by means of w. to the lever 20, which works the trip-off cam of the crab-claw x, the same as used on the valve-crank of the Corliss engine, this crab-claw is fixed to the lower end of the eccentric-rod e, and is worked by the eccentric e on the shaft S. The crabclaw as works the lever d, causing the rockershaft y to oscillate. A sword-arm lever, 12, is connected to rocker -shaft .3 which, when rocked downward, presses upon the valvestem 0, which opens valve 2' and allows the compressed air in H to enter the cylinder E. After the crab-claw m slips from its catch on lever a, the spring 9, together with the pressure of air under the valve 2, closes the valve and forces the arm I) back to its horizontal position. To the eccentric-rod c is attached a short valve-rod, c, which communicates to the lever k and works the exhaust-valve I. The eccentric e is set on the shaft S, so as to raise the valve I as soon as the piston E has reached the top of its stroke, and to keep the allows the compressed air to enter under the piston E; while the crab-claw w is moving up its bent arm 00 strikes the cam-lug t, and causes the grip as to liberate the lever a. The time when the crab-claw slips off and allows the valve .2 to close in relation to the various Fig. ishows asectional plan of Fig. 2, showing bed 13, cylinder 0, with the apertures 12, for drawing in air, and the'opening p, for expelling air into the pipe H. The cylinder E is also shown with the opening H for compressed air to enter, and opening B, through which the cold expanded air is expelled. There is also shown a plan of the valve-working mechanism, consisting of the rockershaft y, lever a, crab-claw w, sword-arm b, that presses down the stem 0 of the valve 2, also the governing cylinder 10, connecting-rod w, lever w, and

cam-sleeve f, to which cam f is attached for,

for patents relating to this invention, we re serve the right to do so.

WVhat we claim as our invention is 1. A refrigerating-machine in which the relative amount of air or gas which is being compressed and the amount which is used expansively for power is regulated by the pressure of air varying from any given pressure, sub stantially as and for the purposes as set forth.

2. The combination of the cylinder O, pipe H, and cylinder E with an automatic cut-off operated by the pressure of the air in pipe H, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

3. The combination of cylinder (3, crank c, shaft S, crank 0, cylinder E, and automatic cut-oft x, operated by the pressure of air or gas compressed by cylinder 0, and acting upon a piston, 10, substantially as and for the purposes as set forth. v

4. In a refrigerating-machine consisting of a compressing-engine, a pressure pipe or reeeiver, and an expanding engine, through which the power rendered by the compressed air in expanding to an increased volume is employed to assist in the work of compressing the air, an automatic governing mechanism operated by the rise and fall of the pressure of air, whereby the amount of air admitted at each stroke to the expanding-engine is regulated, substantially as and for the purposes as set forth.

5. The governor WV, worked by the pressure of air or gas in H, for controlling the amount of air or gas allowed to enter the cylinder E, substantially as and for the purposes as set forth.

ADDISON G. W'ATERHOUSE. BENJAMIN I5. BREYVEB.

\Vitnesses:

BARTON B. WARD, G. L. WATERHoUsE, S. S. SoU'rHwoR'rH,

A. J. THOMAS.

Images