US731571A - Testing apparatus. - Google Patents

Description

PATENTED' JUNE 23, 1903.

No. 731,571. A

G. J. HENRY, JR. TESTING APPARATUS.

APPLIOATION FILED DBO. 9, 1902.

N0 MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

W/ rut-5555 //v VE/V 747R PATENTED JUNE 23, 1903.

G. J. HENRY, JR. TESTING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED DEC]. 9, 1902. no MODEL. 2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

UNITED STATES- Patented June 23, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

CALIFORNIA, A'SSIGNOR OF COMPANY, OF SAN FRANCISCO,

CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION OF CALIFORNIA.

TESTING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 731,571, dated June 23, 1903. Application filed December 9,1902. Serial No. 134,509. (No model.)

To all whom it may cor warn:

Be it known that I, GEORGE J. HENRY, Jr.,

a citizen of the United States, residing in the city and county of San Francisco,State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Testing Apparatus; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

The present invention relates to a certain new and useful apparatus for use in the making of tests relative to the action of the impact-stream in connection with water-wheel buckets, the object of the invention being the providing of co'acting means whereby the action of the stream upon the buckets or vanes of waterwheels, the position which the buckets or vanes assume relative to the stream as entering therein,passage therethrougl1,and making exit therefrom, the discharge of the water from the buckets or vanes, and the action of the buckets or vanes under varying conditions may be readily ascertained.

To comprehend the invention, reference should be had to the accompanying sheets of drawings, wherein- Figure l is a front view in elevation of the apparatus, partly in section. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the apparatus. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional end view of the apparatus, viewed from the Water-inlet end; and Fig. 4 is a similar view disclosing a modification as to the arrangement of the light-supplying shutter or disk, the same being located at the front of the water-wheel casing.

The numeral 1 is used to indicate any suitable style of base or platform, which supports the water-wheel casing 2. This casing is provided with a removable glass front 4. Between the casing 2 and the platform 1 there is arranged a frame 5, preferably rectangular inform, which is free of top or bottom. This frame is covered by a glass plate 3, which rests upon a packing-ring 3. In the bottom of the water-wheel casing is out an opening 4', through which light enters the interior of the water-wheel casing. Through the platform 1 is formed an opening a, which corresponds in size with that of the rectangular frame 5.

The platform 1 in the present case is suspended by means of the hangers 6, undue strain being eliminated by the employment of supports 7. However, the form of supporting-frame is an im material feature, as any desired style of support for the apparatus may be employed.

Through the water-wheel casing extends a drive-shaft 8, upon the projecting end of which is detachably secured a water-Wheel 9. To the periphery of this wheel a number of water-wheel buckets or vanes 10 are attached, which buckets may be of one kind or style, or a number of different buckets may be placed thereon, according to the will of the operator. The drive-shaft works in bearings of brackets 11, and the same is driven from any suitable source of power, as through the medium of the power-belt 12, working over pulley-wheel 13, secured to the said shaft, or the same may be driven by the action of the im pact-stream upon the water-wheel attached to the said drive-shaft.

Through one end of the water-wheel casing extends a water-nozzle 14:, with which connects the Water-supply pipe 15., This nozzle is so positioned that the impact-stream discharged therefrom strikes or impinges against the vanes or buckets 10 of the water-Wheel in the same manner as When the wheel is placed in actual use. The waste or utilized Water escapes from the water-wheel casing through a suitable outlet, being carried off by discharge-pipe b.

It will be understood that the testing apparatus is used in what is known as a dark room, or the light must be so cut off as to preclude observation of the action of the wheel within the water-wheel casing-without light being projected into the said Waterwheel casing. To obtain the effect of the streams action upon the water-wheel buckets or vanes, it is required that light-flashes be projected into the casing, so as to strike the impact-stream when one of the buckets or vanes reaches a point therein at which the operator desires to make observations or study the effect of the action of the water thereon. This may be accomplished in various ways, either by reflected sunlight or by artificial light. Asimple and effective mannor of obtaining this result consists in pro jecting into the casing light-rays through the medium of a disk shutter. In the drawings two disk shutters are illustrated, although, as will be hereinafter explained, only one shutter is required. Disk shutter 16, which shall hereinafter be termed the horizontal disk shutter, is arranged to rotate in a horizontal plane beneath the frame 5. This shutter is secured to the lower end of the verticallymovable rotatable shaft 17, which works within the guide 18. To the upper end of shaft 17 is attached a pinion 19,which when the shaft is raised meshes with gear 20, secured to the drive-shaft 8. The gear connection between the vertical shaft 17 and the drive-shaft S is such. as to drive the shaft 17 at a ratio of six to one. This is due to the fact that there are twenty-four buckets or vanes 10 attached to the periphery of the water-wheel 9, while in the disk shutter 16 are cut only four radial slots 21. To permit of a flash of light being admitted into the wheel-casing through the radial slots 21, so as to strike onto each bucket within the impact-stream, it is required where the number of buckets exceed the light-openings six to one that the horizontal disk be driven at six times the speed of the water-wheel. Of course it will be understood that the ratio of speed given is not an arbitrary one, inasmuch as the driven speed of the horizontal shutter is dependent upon the relation which the light-openings cut therein bear to the number of buckets or vanes attached to the periphery of the waterwheel and is also dependent upon the effect sought to be attained. Where the speed of the horizontal disk shutter is such that the light admitted into the water-wheel casing through the radial openings bears upon each bucket at a common point in the impactstream, the effect produced is that of the water-wheel remaining stationary. This is the desired effect when seeking to study the action of the impact-stream as though bearing upon a single bucket or where it is desired to take photographs to illustrate the action of the impact-stream.

The vertical shaft 17 is raised and lowered by means of the lever 22, fulcrumed to the inner supporting-bracket 11. The inner end of this lever bears against the pinion 19. Consequently when the outer end of the lever 22 is thrown downward its opposite end moves upward and raises or lifts the vertical shaft, so as to place the pinion 19 into mesh with gear 20.

In Figs. 1, 2, and 3 a simple form for projecting light onto the horizontal disk shutter is illustrated, the same comprising a lens 23, mounted in a suitable frame 24:, placed at one side of the apparatus, a mirror 25, arranged below the platform 1 at an angle of about forty-five degrees, which receives the rays of light from the lens 23, and a lens 26, secured within the platform 1, so as to lie directly below the horizontal shutter 16. The light admitted through lens 23 onto the mirror 25 is reflected upwardly onto lens 26, through which it is projected into the water-wheel casing through the radial slots 21 of the horizontal disk shutter 16 during rotation of the said disk. Each time a radial slot 21 during rotation of the horizontal disk shutter 16 moves through the focus of the lens 26 a flash of light is admitted into the water-wheel casing, illuminating the interior thereof at the moment the bucket is in the desired position. Owing to the speed at which the horizontal disk shutter rotates the appearance is that of a constant or non-interrupted stream of light projected into the water-wheel casing.

In Figs. 1, 2, and 3 of the drawings a second disk shutter 27, provided with radial slots 28, is illustrated. This shutter is arranged to cover the lens 23 in the same manner as the horizontal disk shutter covers lens 26. The disk 27 is secured to one end of shaft 29, working in bearing 30 of support 31. To the opposite end of shaft 29 is attached a pinion 32, which pinion meshes with a pinion 33, secured to a cross-shaft 34:. Said shaft works in bearings 35 and is driven from the driveshaft 8 by means of a belt 36, which belt works over cone 37, secured to the drive-shaft 8, and cone 38, attached to cross-shaft 34. By changing the position of the belt 36 upon the cones the speed of the disk 27 may be either increased or decreased in respect to driveshaft 8 in accordance with the desire of the operator. WVhen the disk shutter 27 is employed to admit of a series of light-flashes into the water-wheel casing through the medium of the before-described lens and reflecting-mirror, the horizontal disk shutter preferably is disconnected from the drive-shaft and so arranged that one of its radial slots stands immediately over and in the focus of the lens 26. It is required that the shutter 16 be disconnected where the speed of the disk shutter 27 is above or below what would be that of the horizontal disk shutter 16 if connected with the drive=shaft, inasmuch as the speed of said shutter 16 is not variable, as in the case of the shutter 27.

In the use of either disk shutter 16 or 27 to admit a source of interrupted light into the water-wheel casing where the water-wheel buckets bear to the light-openings of the disks as six to one and the speed of the disks to the wheel is at a ratio of six to one the appearance produced is that of the wheel standing still. To produce an effect of the wheel moving in the direction of rotation to carrv its buckets away from or out of the impactstream, it is only required that the speed of disk shutter 27 be decreased below the ratio of six to one by shifting of the belt 36. By so doing the flashes of light admitted into the water-wheel casint are less than that of the water-wheel buckets or vanes passing in a unit of time, thereby producing an appearance as though the wheel advanced or carried the buckets or vanes away from or out of the impact-stream.

If, however, instead of driv- ICC ' of the Water-wheel casing.

ingthedisk shutter 27at the describedreduced speed the speed thereof be increased by shifting belt 36 above the ratio of six to one or six times that of the drive-shaft 8, then the appearance is that of the water-wheel receding or the buckets being carried backward or contrary to the direction of the water-wheels rotation. Thus the operator is enabled to study the action of the impact-stream under varyi g conditions of the water-wh eel, t ereby obtaining accurate knowledge of the angle and curves of discharge f the water at whatever speed the water-wheel may be driven.

The main value of the invention resides in being able to make comparative test as to the discharge of water from water-wheel buckets of difierent construction. This is accomplished by equipping wheels With difierent styles of buckets. After the buckets of one wheel have been thoroughly studied as to the action of the impact-stream and suitable data made thereof by photographs or otherwise the wheel is removed from the drive-shaft and a second wheel attached thereto with a different type of buckets thereon.

In Fig. 4 of the drawings a modified'arrange ment as to the position of the outside disk shutter is illustrated. In this case the disk shutter 39 is located in front of the waterwheel casing. It is secured to a shaft 40, which is driven from across-shaft 41 by means of the belt 42. This belt works over cone 43 of shaft 40 and cone 44 of cross-shaft 41. The cross-shaft 41 is driven from the drive-shaft 8 by the belt 36, which works over belt-wheel 37 and pulley 45 of the cross-shaft 41.

It will be understood that any suitable source of light may be employed-that is, sunlight, electric light, or any other artificial source of light.

It is obvious that instead of projecting a series of light-flashes into the interior of the water-wheel casing a continuous illumination may be utilized-as, for instance, an electric light interposed between the outside disk shutter and the casing. Under such conditions the operator will study the buckets effect by examining the same through the openings of the outside shutter-disk during the rotation thereof. For this purpose the arrangement of outside shutter-disk illustrated by Fig. 4: of the drawings is preferredthat is, the location of the said disk in front The effect given to the operators eye when viewed through the openings of the revolving disk-shutter where a continuous source of illumination is employed is the same as that produced by projecting a series of light-flashes into the water-wheel casing.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, and desired to be protected by Letters Patent, is 1 1. In an apparatus of the character described, a casing, a Wheel in said casing, a plurality of water-wheel buckets carried by said wheel, means for rotating the wheel, a supply-nozzle projecting into the casing and arranged to discharge against the buckets, an outlet leading from the casing, and means whereby light-flashes are projected into the casing and onto the buckets as they receive the impact from the supply-nozzle.

2. In an apparatus of the character described, a casing, a wheel in said casing, a plurality of water-wheel buckets carried by said wheel, means for rotating the wheel, a supply-nozzle projecting into the casing and arranged to discharge against'the buckets, an outlet leading from the casing, means whereby light-flashes are projected into the casing and onto the buckets as they receive the impact from the supply-nozzle, and means for varying said light-flashes.

3. In an apparatus of the character described, a casing, a wheel in said casing, a plurality of water-wheel buckets carried by said wheel, meansfor rotating the wheel, a supply-nozzle projecting into the casing and arranged to discharge against the buckets, an outlet leading from the casing, and a disk shutter having a plurality of openings permitting light-flashes to be projected into the casing and onto the buckets as they receive the impact from the supply-nozzle.

4. In an apparatus of the character described, a casing, a wheel in said casing, a plurality of water-wheel buckets carried by said wheel, means for rotating the wheel, a supply-nozzle projecting into the casing and arranged to discharge against the buckets, an outlet leading from the casing, a rotatable shutter, and means for rotating said shutter proportionately to the number and movement of the buckets.

5. In an app'aratus of the character described, a casing, a wheel in said casing, a

plurality of water-wheel buckets carried by said wheel, means for rotating the wheel, a supply-nozzle projecting into the casing and arranged to discharge against the buckets, an outlet leading from the casing, rotatable means through which the action of the Waterwheel is exposed,and adjustable means whereby the operation and speed of said means are controlled. I

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

- GEORGE J. HENRY, JR. Witnesses:

N. A. ACKER, D. B. RICHARDS.

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