US699646A - Steam-trap. - Google Patents

Description

P'a'tenlted May I3, |992.,

C. H. BERRY.

STEAM TRAP.

(Appucmm am Apr. so, 1901.)

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UNTTED STATES PATENT EEICE.

CHARLES HIBBERT BERRY, OF MANCHESTER, ENGLAND.

STEAM-TRAP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 699,646, dated May 13, 1902.

Application filed April 30, 1901.

To @ZZ whom, it may concern.'

Be it known that I, CHARLES IIIBBEET BERRY, a citizen of England, residing at Manchester, in the county of Lancaster, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Steam-Traps, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention has reference to that type of steam-trap in which the outlet of the water resulting from the condensation of steam in the pipes or apparatus to which the steamtrap is applied is controlled by the movements consequent upon alternate expansion and contraction of a valve-box and valve carried by the ends ofl two tubes having different coefficients of expansion. These two tubes are connected, respectively, at one end to the steam pipe or apparatus which has to be drained and to the'outlet. At the opposite end the pipes are connected to the valveboX, one above and the other below the valve therein. Hitherto steam-traps of this type have had their pipes so arranged as to form two sides of an acute-angled triangle having its apex in or near the valve-box. Assuming that the lower pipe is constructed of brass and the upper pipe of steel or wrought-iron, the former being connected with the steampipe or apparatus and the latter with the Water-outlet, I have found that these traps are sluggish in their action, their valves neither opening nor closing with suiiicient rapidity to prevent an undesirable accumulation of water nor a waste of steam. After long research I have found that this want of sensitiveness arises from the position of the upper tube, which has the lower coefficient of expansion relatively to thelower tube, which has the higher coefeient, and that this upper tube instead of sharing in and aiding the movements of the lower tube actually resiststhose movements inboth directions. I have therefore devised a new construction of the trap, wherein its sensitiveness is very greatly increased and wherebyany accumulation of water is prevented and waste of steam is avoided. For this purposeI construct the steam-trap with closely parallel tubes and employ therewith a specially-constructed spring-controlled valve-lever.

A Steam-trap in which my improvements Serial No. 58.126. (No model.)

are embodied is illustrated in the accompanying drawings,to which I Willhereinafter refer.

Figure l illustrates a vertical longitudinal section through the steam-trap; Fig. 2, a partial horizontal section along the line .fr x, and Fig. 3 a transverse section along the liney f1] in Fig. l.

The Working part of the steam-trap is contained within and supported by any suitable form of casing, such as a, which may be constructed of cast-iron. The lower tube b, constructed of brass or other metal having a high coefficient of expansion, is connected at one end by the coupling-nut b to the steampipe or other steam apparatus. The upper tube o is similarly connected by the nut c with the water-outlet pipe. These ends of the tubes are inflexibly connected to the casing through which they pass. The tubes are parallel and project through the open opposite end of the casing, as shown to the left of Figs. l and 2, where they are rigidly connected with the valve-box d, the brass pipe entering below and the iron pipe above the valve c. The valve has a spindle f, which passes through the packed gland g and ends above the highest part of the valve-box. J ust above the point of the projecting valve-spindle when the steam-trap is cold is the end of a lever h, fulcrumed at i. Beyond the fulcrum this 1ever is slotted and curved with the center 7c, which is a pivot on which the arm Z may be moved toward and away from the fulcrum t'.

This arm passes through the slot in the curved part of the lever and is secured in any desired position by the locking screW-nutsm.4

` Between the curved part of the lever and the pivot 7c there is a coiled spring n in compression.

The curved part of the lever in combination with the movable arm Z obviously aords a means of regulating the eect of the lever, for if the arm be moved away from the fulcrum the force applied through the valvespindle to eifectits movement or to overcome its resistance must be greater than will be the case if the arm be moved-nearer to the fulcrum. The spring a being adjustable by the nuts m affords an auxiliary means for ad- IDO justment, since if its compression be thereby increased or diminished a correspondinglydle into con tact with the lever.

increased amount of force applied through the valve-spindle will be required to move it. I have thus two coperating means for adjusting` resistance to the movement of the valve, and by their joint employment I am enabled to make the same valve operate perfectly and quickly at a very high or at a very low and at all intermediate steam-pressures.

Beyond the curved part of the lever there is a tailpiece o, which can be depressed by hand without interfering with the adjustments when it is required to blow steam through the pipes for any reason whatever.

The action of the steam-trap is as follows: Assuming everything To be cold,the pointof the valve is free from the lever, and the valve is therefore free to lift. Water accumulating in the trap is therefore free to flow away through the outlet connection cf. If now steam be turned on, the residual water is instantly blown through the valve-box and the pipe Z) is cleared; but at the same time that pipe is heated by the steam and instantly expands in length, and since the upper tube c is neither heated so much nor expands to so great an extent when equally heated there results an upward movement of the valvebox, which brings the point of the valve-spin- Y Resistance to the motion of the valve follows, and the position of` the arm Z and. the compression of the springn are so adjusted that steam j ust ceases to A,weep through. This adjustment having once been -effected will not afterward require to be varied except for rather wide variations in pressure. As soon as waterreaccumulates in the pipe b its lower temperature effects a cooling of that pipe and its contraction,with the result that the valve-box is lowered and the resistance to the movement of the valve is diminished, whereupon the valve can be lifted and the water escape. These actions are repeated so long as the steam-trap is at work; but I find that the construction is so sensitive and effective that only a slight motion is perceptible to the senses as ordinarily applied and that the water issues in a regular trickle or stream at precisely the rate at which it is produced by condensation; but there is a definite discharge and cut off of water.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is- 1. In a steam-trap of the class described,an inlet-tube having a high coefficient of expansion and fixed at one of its ends, an outlettube having alow coefficient of expansion and fixed at one end parallel with the inlet-tube, a valve-box mounted upon the free ends of the parallel tubes, a valve within the valvebox between the tube-openings, a valve-spindle projecting through the upper part of the Valve -box, a lever having a straight part above the valve spindle and a curved part and being fulcrumed between the straight and curved parts, an arm pivoted in the center of curvature of the lever and capable of being moved in its plane, a compressed spring between the arm-pivot and the curved part of the lever and tending to force the end of the lever against the valve-spindle, and adjusting-nuts on the arm whereby the said tendency can be regulated, substantially as set forth.

2. In a steam-trap of the class described, an inlet-tube having a high coefficient of expansion and fixed at one of its ends, an outlettube having a low coefficient of expansion and fixed at one of its cnds parallel with the inlet-tube, a valve -box mounted on the free ends of the parallel tubes, avalve within the valve box between the tube openings and having a projecting Valve-spindle, a springcontrolled lever in working contact with the valve-spindle, and means for varying the point of attachment of the spring to said lever, substantially as set forth.

3. In a steam-trap of the class described,the combination with a valve and its stem, of a curved lever having an arm adjacent to said valve-stem, an arm pivoted in the center of curvature of the lever and capable of being engaged therewith nearer to or farther from the fulcrum, a compression-spring between the arm-pivot and the lever, and nuts whereby the compression of the spring can be adjusted, substantially as set forth.

In witness whereof I have subscribed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES HIBBERT BERRY.

Witnesses:

VILLIAM E. I-IEYs, ARTHUR MILLWARD.

IOO

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