US640544A

US640544A - Hydraulic-elevator speed-regulator.

Info

Publication number: US640544A
Application number: US63882497A
Authority: US
Inventors: William W Doolittle
Original assignee: Otis Elevator Co
Current assignee: Otis Elevator Co
Priority date: 1897-05-29
Filing date: 1897-05-29
Publication date: 1900-01-02
Anticipated expiration: 1917-01-02

Description

No. @11E-R544. Patented Jan. 2

W. W. DULITTLE. HYDHAULICJELIEVATUR SPEED BEGULATR.

(Application led May 29, 1897.)

5 Sheets-Sheet l.

(No Windel.)

INU. Elm-R544. Patented 1an. 2, |900.- W. W. DUDLITTLE.

HYDRAULIC ELEVATB SPEED REGULATOR.

(Application led May 29, 1897.)

(No Modal.) 5 Sheath-Sheet 2.

ws Noms Unas cn nom-umn., wAswNmoN. u c.

(No Model.)

Patented 1an. 2, |900.

W. W. DLITTLE.

HYDRAULIC ELEVATUR SPEED REGULATOR.

(Application filed May 29, 1897.)

No. 6443,544. Patented lan. 2, |900.

W. W. DULITTLE. HYDRAULIC ELEVATUR SPEED REGULATOR.

(Application filed May 29, 1897.)

(No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 4.

mi Nouns pasas co, Nom-urna.. wm NNNNNNNNNN c.

Patented Jan. 2, |900.

W. W. DLH'TLE.

HYDRAULIC ELIEVTUR SPEED REGULATOR.

(Application led May 29, 1897.) (No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 5.

TH: mms PE1-ms no. Pumomno.. msnmamw, n. c

Taklfhd lWILLIAIlI lll. DOOLI'ITLE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE AS- SIGNMENTS, TO THE OTIS ELEVATOR COMPANY, Oh NEIY JERSEY.

llllylIlHAULlCELlEV/TOR SPEEDWREGULATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 640,544, dated January 2, 1900.

Application filed May 29, 1897. Serial No. 638,824. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern.-

Beit known that l, XVILLIAM W. DooLrr- TLE, a citizen of the United States, residing in Chicago, Cook county, Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hydraulic-Elevator Speed-Regulators, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification.

Various constructions have been heretofore ro proposed for regulating or controlling the speed of the elevator-car and preventing its exceedinga certain predetermined maximum. Amon g other diiiiculties which have been encountered in the use of these prior construcr 5 tions there are two in particular which I desire to note and which it is the object of my invention to overcome.

The iirst difficulty of the two referred to arises from the necessary relation between zo the control exercised by the speed-regulator and the governing action of the operatingvalve. To make this point more clear, I would refer to the diagram shown in the accompanying drawings, which is marked Figure l, in which l represents the passage-way through which fluid is supplied to the operating-cylinder, the fluid flowing in the direction indicated by the arrow. As a diagrammatic representation of the operating-valve I have 3o shown a vertical sliding gate 2, adapted to be moved up and down to open and close the fluid passage-way. At 3 I have shown another vertically-sliding gate or valve, which is to represent the valve mechanism of a speedregulator. TWhen it is desired to start the elevator-car, the speed-regulator valve 3 will of course be in the open position and the operating-valve 2 will be closed, the gradual opening of the operating-valve 2 not being at this 4o time in any way interfered with bythe valve 3. lille will suppose next that valve 2 has been opened wide and the car has attained a speed at which the regulator will begin to act to close oif the opening' at the valve 3 and that such closure continues until there remains but one-fourth of the fullsize of the passageway freely open. It is obvious that if nowit be desired to stop the movement of the car the operating-valve 2 will have to be closed 5 o nearly three-fourths of the way before any appreciable effect will be produced on the m ovement of the car. In other Words, as may be seen from the above explanation the operation of a speed-regulator arranged as shown in Fig.

l interferes with the perfect control of the movement of the car through the operatingvalve7 and it is to be noted that this objectionable result will be produced in every case where the speed-regulating valve and the operating-valve proper are arranged to restrict 6o the fluid passage-Way at separate and distinct points whether the operating-valve be placed between the speed-regulating valve and the cylinder, or vice versa. The same difficulty arises in any construction in which,while controlling the same port or ports, the speed-regulatin g valve has a movement so related to that of the operating-valve that when the speedregulating valve is partly closed the operating-valve must move to a point of closure ap- 7o proXimat-ely the same as has been reached by the speed-regulating valve before it begins to take eifect. For example, supposing in the arrangement shown in Fig. l the vertically-moving sliding gates were constructed to operate on opposite sides of a single-ported partition controlling the same port or ports through the same, then when the speed-'regulating valve had half-closed the opening the operating-valve would have to travel through So one-half of its entire or normal stroke before it would begin to produce any effect on the movement of the car. On the other hand, if the speed-regulating valve or in this case the sliding gate be constructed to open in a direction at right angles to the direction of movement of the sliding gate of the operating-valve (still supposing them to be arranged on opposite sides of a single-ported partition, so as to control the saine port or 9o ports) the partial closure effected by the Speed-regulating valve will in no Wise interfere with the control exercised by the operating-valve at any part of its stroke-i c., the operating-valve will begin to produce an effect 9 5 on the caras soon as it starts to move, the port which it controls having been simply made narrower and not shorter. Approximately the same result could be obtained if the two sliding gates were arranged to move roo in the same direction on opposite sides of a single partition containing a large number of ports if the speed-regulating valve be ,conf structed with an equal number of ports registering With the first-named ports, so that on movement it would partially throttle each small port, but still leave the operating-valve free to exercise the requisite control over the passage.- way `throughout the Whole of its travel.

From the above it may be clearly seen that while to overcome the difficulties mentioned it appears to be necessary that the speed-regulating valve and the operating-valve should act uponthe saine portorports, and while it would seem simplestto accomplish this by arranging the two valves to act upon the same port or ports in different directions-say at right angles to each other-the latter element of construction is not soessential, but-may be replaced by some other plan, if preferred, -provided only that the construction be always such .thatthe speed-regulatingvalve maydiminish the fluid passage-Way in a manner which will not interfere with the-normal action of the operating-valve at any portionv of its movement.

.The second difficulty to -iwhich I have above referred arises under the followingconditions:

Supposin'g the operating-valve 4to be .wide

comes materially reduced the speed-regulat- C ingivalve, if it operates suddenly, will by a rapid Qpening permit a sudden increase in they pressure in the passage-Way, and thereby cause violentlurching of thecar. To better illustrate this, I have constructed a diagram marked Fig. 2, in'which the line 4 represents the gradual closure of the operating-valve to step the car when there is no interference from any speed-regulating valve, and vthe dotted line marked 5 represents the action of thefluid and the consequent movement of the car which is produced-when the speed-regulating valve opens suddenly as soon as the speed of the car begins to be reduced from the closure 4of the operating-valve, the violent' withoutzinterference from or with 4the other andstrof construct the speed-,regulating valve mechanismy so` as to permit the saine to be closed` as rapidly as-the circumstances of fthe casein/ay require, but to prevent its being suddenly opened when the speed of the car besn'tcdreasefand thus toavoid the violent lnrching of the car'whch has been above lspeed-regulating valve.

tion, .the scope of which will be .particularly pointed out in the claims, reference may now be had to the balance of the accompanying drawings, in whichi Fig. 3 represents a side elevation of the end of a horizontal elevator-cylinder having my improvement applied thereto, the means by which the movement of the speed-regulating valve is secured being in this figure a common form of revolving ball-governor. Fig. 4 is a vertical section through the operating-valve, showing the application of the speed-regulating valve thereto. Fig. 5 is a vertical sectionv through the dash-pot which I use to prevent the sudden opening of the Fig. 6 is a section taken on the line 6 6 of Fig. 4. Fig. 7 is a horizontal section on the Vline 7 7 of Fig. 4. Figs. 8 and 9 are an end and side view, re-

spectively, of a modified form of mechanism foractuating myspeed-regulatorvalve. Fig. v10 is a section showing a detail of the lastmentioned modiication; and Figs. l1 and 12 are a side and end view, respectively, of still another modified form of mechanism for actuating my speed-regulator valve.

Referring now more particularly to Fig. 3, it will he seen'that there is shown an eleva `tor-cylinder 7 ,to which is attachedan operating-valveS and operating in connection with which ,there is aiball-governor 9,connected by means ,of gearing andlevers with the rocker-arm 10. Returning to Fig. 4, it will be seen that my operating-valve consists of a piston-valve operating Within a cylindrical casing 11, in which area series of ports 12. Surrounding this cylindrical casing I `have provided a `rotatable cylinder 13, `having therein ports adapted to register With the IOO ports in the cylindrical casing 12, and thereby control the extent of Vopening of the latter. The vcylindrical sleeve 13 is connected with .the shaft 14 of the rocker-arm v10 by means of the link 15 and the additional rocker-arm 16, so that as the ball-governor 9 moves the rocken-arm 10 up or down the sleeve 13, sur rounding the cylindrical casing 11, will rotate to open or close the ports of the operating-valve.

The controlling-valve proper coni.`

IIO

sistsof four pistons, the two innerones of which I;have marked 17 and the outer ones 18. The voperation of this valve is not new, and in itselfconstitutingnopart of my present invention will not be described with much detail herein. No. 19 is the inlet and 20 the exhaust passage-way, 21 being the opening leadingto the elevator-cylinder. If now the pistons 17 be moved to the right to the extreme limit Of their travel, the fluid-pressure will iiow in from 19 through the ports 12 to the cylinder connectionV 21 and operate the car. When the pistons 17 are moved to the lef-t, the fluid-pressure will escape from the cylinder through-the ports 12 to the exhaust opening or cavity20 and producea reverse movement of the car. Now whichever way the car is moving, whether up or down, if the speed of the same becomes too great the more rapid rotation of the ball-governor raises the rocker-arm l0 and by means of the connections l5 and I6 rotates the sleeve 13, partially throttling the openings I2. Attention is now particularly called to the fact that by the arrangement shown and described this throttling of the openings l2 is done in such amanner as not to interfere in any way with the operation of the operating-valve. Thus the movement of the operating-valve pistons 17 is at once effective in governing the operation of the car and continues its control through the entire length of such movement, whereas if the speed-regulating mechanism had throttled the openings in such a Way that it would be necessary for the operating-pistons to move through any material portion of their stroke before taking effect upon the area ofthe fluidpressure passage the result would be a serious interference with the proper control of the operation of the car. To illustrate this, let it be supposed (referring to Fig. 2) that the distance from a to b represents the time consumed in making a normal stop. If the operating-valve has to travel, say, through onehalf of its stroke before it takes effect, the available time of the stop will be shortened one-half, whichI have represented by the diagram line marked X, a result obviously not favorable to smoothness or certainty7 of operation.

Referring now again to Fig. 3, it will be seen that to the lower end of the governor-rod 22 I have attached a motion-retarding device in the form of a dash-pot plunger 23, operating within a dash-pot cylinder 24. (Shown more in detail in Fig. 5.) In the plunger 23 I have arranged a passage or opening controlled by a checkfvalve 25, which permits the upper movement of the daslrpot and the consequent closing of the ports 12l as rapidly as may be necessary for checking the speed of the car, but which when in closed position, by reason of the small orifice 26, only permits the opening of the ports l2 very slowly, for reasons hereinbefore explained.

Referring new to Figs. 6 and 7, it will be seen that the rocker-shaft li is arranged with a stuffingbox 27, so as to prevent leakage around the same, and, as shown in Fig. 7, I have provided adjustable stops 23, constructed to engage a projecting lug 29 on the sleeve 13, which obviates excessive movement of the same.

In the construction heretofore described I have shown a speed-regulating valve orsleeve 13 as operated by a ball-governor 9. It is possible to secure the movement of the speedregulating valve or sleeve by other means-- such, for example, as a moving vane or float within the fluid-pressure passage-way. One form of such an arrangement I have illustrated in Figs. 3, 9, and lO, 30 being the mow ing vane introduced in the fluid passage-way 3l, leading to the elevator-cylinder.. This vane 30 is connected by means of a rockershaft and -suitable arms to the rockerarm 10 and has for the purpose of keeping it normally in a central position a couple of springs 32, provided with adjustable nuts 33. Attached to this rocker device is the dash-pot plunger 23, which operates substantially in the manner hereinbeforc described in connection with the ball-governor mechanism.

The operation of the last form is as follows: As the speed of the car increases the flow of the fluid through the passage-way 3l becomes more rapid and causes a deiiection of the vane 30 to one side or the other, depending upon Whether the car is going up or down, and the deflection of the vane 30 by means of the connections to the rocker-arm l() operates the rotating sleeve 13, before described.

In Figs. l1 and l2 I have shown still another modified form of mechanism for actuating my speed-regulating valve.` In this construction a piston 34 is connected to the valvearm l0, and this piston being balanced between the pressure in the elevator-cylinder (admitted through the pipe 35) and the spring 3G responds to every variation in the cylinderpressure to open or close the regulating-valve, and thus control the speed. This arrangement, however', constitutes no part of my present invention, but forms the subjectmatter of an application filed by Richard T. Crane, and is therein more fully described.

IIaving thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a hydraulic elevator the combination with a car, a cylinder, a supply and exhaust port for said cylinder, and an operating-valve and a speed-governor valve both controlling said port, of manual and automatic devices connected with said car and operating said valves, substantially as described.

2. In a hydraulic elevator the combination with a car, a cylinder, a supply and exhaust port for said cylinder, and an operating-valve and a speedgcvernor valve both controlling said port, said operating-valve acting in one direction and said speed-governor valve acting in a different direction, of manual and automatic devices connected with said car and operating said valves, substantially as described.

3. In a hydraulic elevator the combination with a car, a cylinder, a supply and exhaust port for said cylinder, and an operating-valve and a speed-governor valve both controlling said port, of manual devices connected With said car and operating said operating-valve, and automatic devices constructed to operate said speed-governor valve, substantially as shown and described.

4. In a hydraulic elevator the combination with a car, a cylinder, a supply and exhaust port for said cylinder, andan operating-valve and a speed-governor valve, both arranged to control said supply and exhaust port, of man ual devices connected with said car and op erating said operating-valve, automatic de- IOO IOC

vary the size of said port, manual devices conx nected with said car to operate said operating-valve,- and automatic devices constructed to operate said speed-regulating valve.

WILLIAM W'. DOOLITTLE.

Witnesses:

T, F. KENNEDY, PAUL SYNNESTVEDT;