US905859A - Water-motor. - Google Patents

Description

F. G. BMRIGK.- 'WATER Mo'lon. APPLICATION '.FILED DEO. 16, 19017,-

PatentedDec. 8, 1908.

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F. C. EMRIGK. WATER MOTOR.

Patented Dec. 8,1908.

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FRANK C. EMRIGK, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

WATER-MOTOR.

Speccation of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 8, 1908.

Application lled December 16, 1907. Serial No. 406,754.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, FRANK C. EMRIGK, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Louis, Missouri, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Water- Motors, of which the following is a full, clear, and eXact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and usethe same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a top plan view of a water motor constructed in accordance with my invention, said view being taken on a horizontal plane located below the upper members of the carriages. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a portion of the motor illustrated in Fig. l, only the carriage A being shown in this figure; and Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view of part of the mechanism that is employed for starting and stopping the motor.

This invention relates to water motors, namely, machines that are adapted to be driven by the current of a river or flowing stream of water.

The main object of my invention is to provide a machine of the character described that is of simple' construction and which will generate a great deal of power.

Another object of my invention is to provide a water gate which is so designed that the pressure of the water on the gate constitutes the principal means for opening and closing the gate.

I have herein shown my improved water motor as being utilized for driving a pump but it will, of course, be understood that it could be utilized for driving an air compressor or for various other purposes.

Referring to the drawings which illustrate the preferred form of my invention, l designates a pair of rails that are arranged on the bed of a river or a stream of flowing water to form a track for a plurality of carriages A, A which are connected together by a cable or other suitable flexible member 2 passing around a drum or driving member 3, said drum being provided with an eccentric or crank arm 4 totwhich the crosshead 5 of a pump 6 is connected by means of a link 7. The carriages A, A are immersed in the water and are provided with gates that are closed and opened intermittently to form an obstruction to the current of the stream so that the carriages will be moved backwardly and forwardly and thus rotate or oscillate the drum or driving member 3 around which the cable 2 passes. Each of the carriages herein shown consists of an oblong-shaped base 8 and head-piece 9 connected together by uprights 10, the base being provided with wheels or rollers 1l that travel on the rails l.

Both carriages are of the same construction so that I will only specifically describe the carriage A, the parts of the carriage A being designated by the same reference characters that are used to designate the parts of the carriage A with the character a added. The base and head-piece of the carriage A are hollow, as shown in Fig. 2, and are so constructed that they will offer the least possible resistance to the flow of the water, said parts being approximately elliptical shape in cross section. A plurality of pairs of vertically disposed shafts 12 are journaled in the base and head-piece of the carriage and a gate 13 is pivotally mounted or journaled on each of said shafts, said gates preferably extending from the base to the head-piece of the carriage, as shown in Fig. 2. The gates 13 are preferably hollow and the shafts l2 pass loosely through the interior of same, the side edges of the gates being inclined or disposed at an angle to their front and rear faces so that they are substantially diamond-shaped in cross section, the front and rear faces of the gates being wider, however, than the inclined side edges. Each of the shafts l2 is provided adjacent its upper and lower ends with pinions 14, and rack bars l5, which are connected to the rear side of the gate adjacent its upper and lower ends, mesh with said pinions.

i The shafts 12 of each pair are so disposed relatively to each other ,and the gates 13 are so proportioned that when the gates are closed; namely, when they extend longitudi nally of the carriage, their meeting edges will overlap and thus form a wide obstruction or dam that offers considerable resistance to the flow of the water, the main portions of the gates being located between the ends of the carriage. The carriage `is provided with stops or abutments 150 with which the gates contact when they are closed. Consequently, when the gates of the carriage A are closed or when they are arranged in the position shown in Fig. l, the pressure of the water on said gates will cause the carriage A to move down the stream in the direction indicated by the arrow a in said figure and thus draw the carriage A in the opposite direction, as indicated by the arrow L, and as the cable 2 which connects said carriages together passes around the drum 3 said drum will be rotated and thus impart a reciprocating movement to the cross-head of the pump 6. lhen the carriages reach certain positions the gates of carriage A are opened and the gates of carriage A are closed, so that said carriage A will be provided with a dam or obstruction that causes the carriage A to move in the opposite direction or down the stream, and the carriage A to move in the opposite direction or up the stream, the cable'2 operating to turn or rotate the driving drum in the opposite direction.

The gates on the carriages are opened and closed automatically by means of the following mechanism: Each carriage is provided with a rack bar 16, preferably arranged inside of the hollow base of the carriage, and the shafts 12 on which the gates are mounted are provided at their lower ends with pinions 17 that mesh with the rack bar 16, said rack bar being connected to the long arm 18 of a bell crank lever that is mounted on a bracket 19 on the carriage. A pair of stops 20 and 21 is provided for each carriage, and the short arm 22 of the bell crank lever on the carriage is so formed that it will contact with these stops as the carriage reaches its limit of movement in both directions and thus actuate the rack bar 16. When the carriage A reaches its limit of movement down-stream; namely, when it is traveling in the direction indicated b v the arrow a in Fig. 1, the short' arm 22 of the bell crank lever will engage the stop 21 and thus move the rack bar 16 in the direction of the arrow c in Fig. 1. The movement of the rack bar 16 in this direction turns the shafts 12 and thus causes each of the gates 13 to move or shift relatively to its shaft by means of the rack and pinion connection between the gate and shaft. As soon as the gate has reached a position in which the shaft 12 is on the opposite side of the longitudinal center of the gate the forceof the water rushing against the gate will cause it to swing open. That is to sav, when the gates are closed, as shown in Fig. 1, the shaft which extends through each gate will be located at one side of the longitudinal center of the gate so that the gate will not be balanced evenly and the pressure of the water on the gate will hold it against its stop 150. When the gate is shifted relatively to its shaft the shaft will be located on the opposite side of the longitudinal center of the gate and thus cause the gate to be overbalanced so that the pressure of the water on the gate will cause it to swing open, the carriage being provided with 'stops 23 with which the gates contact when they are open. At the time the'carriage A reaches its limit of movement down-stream and its gates are opened, as above described, the carriage A reaches its limit of movement up stream so that the shaft arm 22a of the bell crank lever on said carriage comes into engagement with the. stop 20a. The movement of said bell crank lever shifts the rack bar 16a of said carriage in the direction indicated by the arrow (l in Fig. 1, and thus turns the shafts 12a of said carriage. The movement of said shafts shifts the gates 13l relatively to the shafts and locates the shafts on the opposite sides of the longitudinal centers of the gates from that shown in Fig. 1, so that the pressure of the flowing water on the inclined side edges of said gates will turn them about the shafts as fulcrums in the direction indicated by the arrow e in Fig. 1, the turning movement of the gates being arrested by the stops 1502L so that the gates come to rest with their meeting edges overlapping each other.

From the foregoing it will be seen that very little power is required to open and close the gates as the current or pressure of the water is utilized to turn the gates, mechanical power being used merely to shift the gate relatively to its shaft or fulcrum. By providing the gates with inclined side edges which extend in the direction in which the gates turn, the pressure of the water on said gates is so distributed that the gates will always turn in the proper direction. `While I have herein shown a construction in which the gates are shifted relatively to the fulcrums about which they turn, it will, of course, be obvious that the same results could be accomplished by shifting the fulcrums relatively to the gates. It will, of course, be understood that the gates of carriage A are closed when said carriage reaches its limit of movement up-stream, by means of the bell crank lever on said carriage coming into contact with the stop 20, and that the gates of carriage A are opened automatically when said carriage reaches its limit of movement down-stream by means of the short arm of the bell. crank lever on said carriage coming` into engagement with the stop 21a.

For enabling the machine to be stopped conveniently have provided means for shifting the stop 21 that actuates the bell crank lever on the carriage A so that said lever will be operated and thus open the gates on said carriage before the gates on the carriage A have been closed, thereby causing both carriages to come to rest as both of them offer the same resistance to the flowing water.

In the construction herein shown the stop 21 consists `of a rod that is connected to a piston 24 arranged inside of a cylinder 25,

said piston being operated by `means of any I claim as new and desire to secure by Letsuitable motive fluid such, for example, as compressed air or water that is introduced into and conducted away from the cylinder 25 by means of conduits 26 and 27 leading from a source of supply on the bank of the river. This forms a very efficient means for controlling the operation of the motor as the motor and also the pump 6 that it operates are submerged in the river at quite a distance from the shore. The stop rod 21 is provided at its front end with a pivotally mounted dog 28 and a spring 29 which tends to force said dog upwardly. A cam or inclined bracket 30' is arranged in the path of movement of the dog 28 and when the motor is in operation and the stop rod 21 occupies the position shown in Fig. 1, an extension 31 on the dog 28 will project underneath the cam or inclined bracket 30, said bracket being preferably connected to one of the rails 1, as shown in Fig. 3.

To stop the motor the piston 211 is moved in the direction of the arrow g in Fig. 2 and the end of the stop rod 21 will prematurely engage the short arm 22 of the bell crank lever on the carriage A and actuate said lever so as to open the gates on said carriage. Consequently, the motor will come to rest as the gates of both carriages are now open. As the stop rod 21 moved forwardly the extension 31 on the dog 28 rode along the underneath face of the bracket 30 and after said extension passed out of engagement with said bracket the spring 29 threw the dog 29 upwardly, thereby bringing a shoulder 32 on said dog into such a position that it will engage the short arm 22 of the bell crank lever on carriage A when the stop rod moves in the opposite direction to close the gates, the cam 30 causing the dog 28 to release the arm 22 when the stop 21 has been returned to normal position.

To start the machine l permit the motive fluid to enter the cylinder 25` through the conduit 26 and thus move the piston 24 in the opposite direction to that in which it moved when the machine was stopped, and as the dog 28 moves with said piston, the shoulder 32 on said dog will engage the short arm 22 of the bell crank lever on carriage A and thus actuate the rack bar 16 to close the gates on said carriage to form an obstruction or dam that causes the carriage A to move down-stream.

The pump 6, herein shown, is used to force water from the river up to some point on the land through a conduit or pipe 6a but, as previously stated, it is immaterial for what purpose my motor is used. so that I do not wish it to be understood that my invention consists in a water motor that is used for operating a pump.

Having thus described my invention, what ters Patent is:

1. A water motor comprising a pair of carriages, a member connected to said carriages and adapted to impart rotary or osci'l- 70 latory movement to a driving member, pivotally mounted gates mounted on said carriages so as to form dams or obstructions when they are closed, mechanism for shifting said gates relatively to their pivots so that the current of the stream can open and close the gates, and devices arranged in the path of movement of said carriages for automatically actuating said gate-operating mechanism; substantially as described.

2. A ,water motor comprising a plurality of carriages connected together' by a flexible device that passes over a driving member, pivot'ally mounted gates arranged inside of each carriage, means on each carriage for shifting the gates thereon relatively to their pivots to cause the current of the stream to open and close the gates, and means for operating the gate-actuating mechanism of one carriage to open the gates thereon and simultaneously operating the gate-actuating mechanism of the other carriage to close the gates thereon; substantially as described.

3. A watermotor comprising a pair of carriages, a flexible device connected to said carriages and passing around a driving` member, pivotally mounted gates arranged inside of each carriage and adapted to form dams or obstructions when they are closed, mechanism for shifting said gates relatively to their pivots to cause the current of the stream to open and close the gates, and stationary devices which are so arranged that the gate-actuating mechanism for each car riage will be operated to close the gates thereon and thus cause the carriage to move down stream and thereafter operate said mechanism to open the gates thereon; substantially as described.

4. A water motor comprising a pair of supporting frames, a flexible device passing around a driving member and connected to Vsaid frames, a track on which said frames travel, gates pivotally mounted on said frames between the ends of said frames, mechanism carried by each frame for shifting the gates relatively to their pivots so that the current of the stream can open and close the gates, and a pair of stops coperating with each frame and adapted to operate the gate-actuating mechanism thereon when the frame reaches predetermined positions in its travels; substantially as described.

5. An apparatus of the character described provided with a supporting frame that is adapted to be immersed or partially immersed in water, a gate arranged on said frame, a shaft arranged adjacent the center of said gate to form a fulcrnm forsame, and means for moving one of said members relatively to the other to cause the pressure ofV the water to completely open or close the gate depending upon the direction in which said member is moved; substantially as described.

(3, An apparatus of the character described, provided with a frame that is adapt.- ed to be immersed or partially immersed in water, a gate mounted on said frame, a vertically disposed shaft that forms a fulcruni for said gate, and means for shifting the gate relatively to the shaft to cause the pressure of the water to turn the gate, substantially as described.

7. An apparatus of the character described, comprising a supporting frame that is adapted to be immersed or partially immersed in water, a shaft that forms a fulcrum for said gate, a rack and pinion connection between said shaft and gate, and

`means for turning' said shaft to shift the gate relatively to the shaft and cause it to be turned .by the pressure of the water thereon; substantially as described.

8. An apparatus of the character described, comprising a supporting frame that is adapted to be immersed or partially immersed in water, a gate mounted on said frame and having side edges that are inclined relatively to its front and rear faces,

a vertically disposed shaft that forms a fulcrum for the gate, and means for shifting said gate relatively to the shaft to cause the gate to be turned by the pressure of the water thereon; substantially as described.

9. An apparatus of the character described, comprising a supporting frame that is adapted to be immersed or partially iinmersed in water, a pair of vertically disposed hollow gates mounted on said frame, a shaft extending loosely through each gate to form a fulcrum therefor, means for shifting the gates relatively to their respective shafts to cause them to be turned by the pressure of the water thereon, and stops with which the gates contact when they are opened and closed; substantially as described.

10. An apparatus of the character described, provided with a carriage which consists of a head-piece and a hollen7 base connected together by standards, vertically disposed shafts ]'ournaled in said base and head piece, gates loosely mounted on said shafts and having rack and pinion connections with their respective shafts, a rack bar arranged in the hollow base and meshing` with pinions on the ends of said shafts, and means for actuating said rack bars to turn the shafts and thus shift the gates so that they will be opened and closed by the pressure of the water thereon: substantially as described.

11. An apparatus of the character described, comprising a plurality of carriages adapted to be immersed or partially immersed in a stream of flowing water, means for causing said carriages to travel continuously in opposite directions, a driving member which receives its movement from said carriages, and fluid operated means under control of the operator for stopping and starting said carriages; substantially as described.

A. water 'motor comprising a plurality of carriages that are adapted to be immersed in a stream of flowing water, gates mounted on said carriages, means on each carriage for actuating the gates thereon, a flexible device passing around a driving member and connected to said carriages, stops which are so arranged that they will cause the gates of one carriage to open and the gates of the other carriage to close simultaneously, and fluidoperated means under controlof the operator for changing the position of one of said stops so that the gates of both carriages will be open at the saine time; substantially as described.

1?). water motor comprising a plurality of carriages that are adapted to be immersed in a stream of flowing water, gates mounted on said carriages, means on each carriage for actuating the gates thereon, a flexible device passing around a driving member and connected to said carriages, stops which are so arranged that they will cause the gates of one carriage to open and the gates of the other carriage to close simultaneously, and means under control of the operator for changing the position of one of said stops so that the gates of both carriages will be open at the same time, said stop being provided with means for causing the gates of one of the carriages to be closed as said stop is returned to normal position; substantially as described.

le. A water motor comprising a plurality of carriages that are adapted to be immersed in a stream of flowing water, gates mounted on said carriages, means on cach carriage for actuating the gates thereon, a flexible device engaging a driving member and connected to said carriages, stops which are so arranged that they will cause the gates of one carriage to open and the gates of the other carriage to close at approximately the same "time, a piston for operating one of said stops, a cylinder in which said piston is mounted, and conduits leading from said cylinder to the bank of the stream for introducing a motive Huid to said piston; substantially as described.

l5. A gate adapted to be immersed in water to form a ,dam or obstruction, a member contacting with said gate and adapted to form a fulcrum therefor. and means for shifting one of said members relatively to the other in such a direction that the pressure of the water will open the gate; substantially as described.

16. A gate adapted to be immersed in Water to form a dam vor obstruction, a vertically disposed shaft arranged adjacent the center of the gate to form a fulcrum for same, and mechanical means for bodily shifting said gate so as to arrange the shaft on opposite sides of the longitudinal center of the gate and thus cause the pressure of the Water to open and close the gate; substantially as described. l

17. A Water gate having one of its side edges inclined relatively to the front and rear faces thereof, a vertically disposed shaft which forms a fulcrum for the gate, and means for shifting one of said parts relatively to the other to locate the shaft on one side of the longitudinal center of the gate so that the pressure 0f the Water can turn the gate; substantially as described.

In testimony whereof l hereunto afiix my signature in the presence of two Witnesses, this thirteenth day of December 1907.

`FRANK C. EMRICK.

Witnesses:

WELLS L.k CHURCH, GEORGE BAKEWELL.

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