US322762A

US322762A - Centrifugal machine

Info

Publication number: US322762A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1885-07-21
Anticipated expiration: 1902-07-21

Description

(No Model.)

4 Sheet s--Sheet 1.

W. H. TOLHURST.

OBNTRIFUGAL MACHINE.

N0. 322,762. Patented July 21, 1885.

WIT/V588 n NW N [L7 W7 ATTORNEY (No Model.)

' I 4 Sheets Sheet 2. W. H. 'TOLHURST. I

GENTRIFUGAL MACHINE.

Patented July 21, 1885.

lA/l/E/VTOR 4% ATTORNEY N PETERS. Fhuto-lz'flwgxipher. Wahingtun. D. C.

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 3,

W. H. TOLHURST.

UENTRIFUGAL MACHINE;

N0. 322,762. Patented Jilly 21, 1885.

ATTORNE? N. PEIERS, Pholo-Lilhogmphur. Washingtom D. C.

(No Model.) 4 Sheets -sl xeet 4.

I W. H. 'TO'LHURST.

GENTRIPUGAL MACHINE. N0. 322,762.. Patented July 21, 1885.

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A T TOR/V5 V UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

\VILLIAM H. TOLHUB ST, OF TROY, NEW YORK.

CENTRIFUGAL MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 322,762, dated July 21, 1885.

Application filed December 26, 1884. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. TOLHURST, a resident of the city of Troy, in the county of Rensselaer and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Centrifugal Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention that will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

Similar letters refer to similar parts in the several figures therein.

My invention relates to improvements in centrifugal machines.

The object of my invention is to provide means for reducing the strain and friction upon the bearings of a basketsupporting shaft in acentrifugal machine due to the unequal distribution of the load in the basket.

My invention consists, first, in providing a fixed support for the shaft-supporting step, the upper surface of which is so formed that whenthe step is centrally located thereon it will occupy a horizontal position, and any movement of the step changing its location upon said surface will change its angular position relative to the line of direction of the shaft; second, in providing a step for a basketsupporting shaft that is free to revolve by a rotary sliding movement upon the surface of its supporting-base; third, in providing a step for a basket-supporting shaft that is adj ustable angularly tot-he line of direction of said shaft.

Figure l of the drawings is a plan view of my improved centrifugal machine with part omitted to show pulley E. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the step and supportingbase with the basket and supporting-shaft removed. Fig. 3 is a vertical central setion of the machine, taken at the broken line at y in Fig. 1, showing the shaft vertical and the step centrally located upon its support. Fig. 4 is a similar section showing the shaft inclined to the limit of its oscillation and the step upon one side of its support. Fig. 5 is a plan view of the step in different positions upon its supporting-base.

A is the bed-plate of the machine, to which is bolted the stationary basket-inclosing curb B, from which project upwardly three arms, 0, supporting at their upper ends the bearings of the upper end of shaft D, and connected therewith by a universal joint consisting of the ball F, in which the shaft rotates, and the socket J, in which the ball turns to any desired angle, the shaft being free to slide vertically through its bearing in ball F, the bearings being located within the drivingpulley E, fixed to the shaft. The lower end of the shaft rotates in a ball, cl, which is free to turn or tip in any direction inthe step a. The

step is supported by the bed-plate or base A, 6

and is free to travel about the concave surface I; of the base anywhere within the raised an.- nulus g. In Figs. 3 and 4 I have shown the contact-surfaces of the base and step curved to the are of a circle, the center of the circle being located at j in Fig. 3. The position of this are relative to an arc of a circle having the universal joint at the upper end of the shaft as a center is shown by the dotted lines '5 and h, respectively.

The operation of a centrifugal machine used as a hydro-extractor is as follows: fhe wet goods to be dried are placed within the basket G, the walls of which are pierced by numerous perforations, as shown by the dots in Fig. 3, and the basket is rotated at a high rate of speed. The centrifugal force expels the water from the goods out through the perforations into the curb, from which it flows by gravity through suitable apertures therein, as H, which are shown covered in Fig. 3.

In loading the basket with goods'to be thus dried they are seldom or never evenly distributed therein, from which it follows that one side will be heavier than the others, and when the basket is rotated at a high rate of speed a Very great strain, friction, and wear will be thrown upon the bearings of the basket supporting shaft, if they are secured rigidly to their supporting frame and upon the frame 5 itself. Many expedients have been heretofore resorted to for the purpose of overcoming this difficulty. The bearings have been loosely confined by springs,which soon broke or wore out without entirely relieving the bearings of -1oo the friction due to excessive vibration of the various parts. A convex shaftsupporting step resting upon a concave-supporting base has been employed, but the movements of the step were controlled by springs in various ways, and necessarily so, for the reason that only those convex surfaces could be employed whose convexity or concavity was measured by the arc of a circle the center of which was the universal-joint connecting the upper end of the shaft with its supporting-frame, and the gyroscopical movement of the basket and shaft would at once force the step from its support, the tendency of the shaft being to assume a horizontal position.

By connecting step a with its shaft D by means of the ball d, adapted to turn or tip in any direction in a corresponding socket in the step, a universal joint is formed, which permits of a universal angular adjustment of the step a relative to the shaft D, and this universal adj ustment,in connection with the freedom of the shaft to slide verticallyin its bearings, located at or near its end opposite the end supported by the step, perm-its of the use of a supporting-base having a convex surface, or walls with inclined surfaces ascending as they extend from the center outward, the incline being considerably steeper than the inclination of a concave surface formed upon the arc of a circle whose center is the univen sal-joint within the driving-pulley E. I am vthus able by means of gravity, without the use of restraining-springs, to overcome the gyroscopical or other force which tends to drive the supporting-step from the center of its supporting-base. WVhen the shaft oscillates to one side of a vertical line, as from the position shown in Fig. 3 to that shown in Fig. 4, the step a is carried to one side of its supportingbase, traveling up its inclined surface, thereby lifting the traveling parts and the load of the basket, the upper end of the shaft sliding up through its bearings, and the step tipping relatively to the shaft, as shown in Fig. 4.

The position of the step is shown by the dotted circle in Fig. 2'. If the parts are,for the sake of experiment, suddenly forced to their extreme limit,to the position shown in Fig. 4, While the shaft and basket are rapidly rotated to the right, or in the direction taken by the hands of a watch, the shaft will slowly return to an approximately vertical position,the step a revolving by a rotary sliding motion to the left around the center of its supporting-surface, carrying of course the end of the shaft with it, gradually approaching the center as it revolves until the unequal distribution of the load is balanced,when the revolution continues in a circle which is constant fora given variation in the distribution of the load. The load would ordinarily be of such even distribution that the diameter of the circle described by the center of the revolving step would not exceed about one-half inch.

That we may understand and fully apprepartedmuch farther from the horizontal position shown in Fig. 3, so that the side of the step farthest from the center of its support is much nearer the upper end of the shaft than is the opposite side of the step. It is also apparent that the lower side of the step sustains a larger share of the weight of the supported parts, including the loaded basket. Now, as

the shaft and basket rotate and the heavier side of the basket reaches a point in line with the shaft and the center of the supportingsurface (see Fig. 6) farthest from said center,

the pull in the direction of arrow No. 1 upon the shaft and step,due to the centrifugal force of the extra weight pulling in the direction of the arrow,will tend to relieve the lower side of the step of its extra pressure and transfer it to the opposite and upper side of the step,

so that the weight or frictional pressurebetween the surfaces of the step and its support will be about evenly distributed throughout the surface of the step,and as it cannot travel farther in the direction of the pullingforce without traveling up the steep inc re and considerably elevating the whole load, it remains stationary until the line of direction of the pulling-force changes. If we consider its effect after traveling a quarter-revolution,or rotation of the basket to arrow No. 2, we find it is without apparent result, as the rapidity of movement has not afforded sufficient time to retransfer the weight to the lower side of the step and overcome the inertia of the step; but as the pulling-force passes on another quarter to arrow No. 3 there is restored to the lower side of the step not only the weight it would support with the parts at rest, but by reason of the pull almost the entire weight is transferred to the lower side,- so that the frictional contact of the upper or opposite side is very slight, and our pulling-force in passing on to the next quarter, arrow N o. 4, causes the step to slide by a partially rotary motion to a position approximating that shown by the broken lines K, the lower side of the step acting in the nature of a pivot, upon which the step has turned back, and by reason of its tendency to descend the inclined surface toward the center of the supportingbase. The next rotation of the shaft and its load would act in a similar manner upon the step and cause it to assume aposition approximating that shown by the broken line m, very many rotary turns of the shaft being required to cause the step to revolve once around the center of its supporting-base, and several revolutions being required to bring the step into its final orbit of revolution.

From the foregoing explanation it will be seen that no restraint or control whatever, except the inclined supporting surfaces and gravity, is put upon the movements 0f the shaft-supporting step, which is permitted to travel about by easy stages to accommodate itself to the unequal distribution of the load in the basket, which wholly prevents any binding friction upon the bearings, and reduces all vibrations upon the moving or stationary parts to a minimum. Thus the angular adjustment of the supporting-step to the line of direction of the shaft permits of such a dis tribution of the weight upon the step as to cause the same to revolve by a rotary sliding movement until it finds the proper orbit of revolution to maintain the equilibrium of the pulling-force, which is constantly changing in direction during a period of rotation of the shaft.

WVhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a centrifugal-machine, an oscillatory basket-shaft provided with a supporting-step free to travel upon a fixed supporting-surface, said step being angularly adjustable to the line of direction of said shaft, and said shaft being vertically adjustable to the conformation of said supporting-surface, substantially as described.

2. In a centrifugatmachine, a verticallyadjustable basket-supporting shaft connected 5 by a universal joint at or near its upper end with a supporting-frame, and adapted to rotate in a supporting-step which is free to revolve bya sliding rotary movement about the surface of a fixed support, substantlally as described, in combination with said movable step and fixed support, for the purposes speclfied.

3. In a centrifugal-machine having a vertically-adjustable basket-supporting shaft con- 45 nected by a universal joint at or near one end with a supporting-frame, and at ts other end with a movable supportingstep in which it rotates, a step-supporting base provided with an upper concave surface adapted to support the step in a central horizontal position when the said shaft is vertical, and to change the angular position of the step relative to the shaft when the stepped end of the shaft 0sc1llates to one side of a vertical line, the angle formed between the step and shaft constantly increasing on one side and diminishing on the opposite side as the step travels from the central part of the supporting-surface outward, substantially as described, and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 23d day of December, 1884.

VILLIAM H. TOLHURST.

\Vitnesses:

GEO. A. MosHER, IV. H. HOLLISTER, Jr.