US971088A - Regulating apparatus for engines. - Google Patents

Description

G. H. SMOOT.

BEGULATING APPARATUS FOR ENGINES.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 11,1909.

" 971,088. Patented Sept. 27,1910.

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CHARLES H. SMOOT, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

REGULATING APPARATUS FOR ENGINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 27, 1910.

Application filed February 11, 1909. Serial No. 477,468.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES H. SMOOT, a citizen of the United States, residing in New York, county of New York, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Regulating Apparatus for Engines, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming part of this specification.

My invention relates to engines employing fluids at different pressures derived from different sources. One source may be exhaust steam, the other source may be a source of steam of higher pressure, as boiler steam. This second source could be employed to supplement the lower pressure steam in order that the deficiency thereof, which may vary, may be supplied.

My invention has as its object the governing mechanism and valves by means of which the admission of steam from two different sources at different pressures is admitted to the engine and will be found of particular service in that class of power producing mechanism where steam is admitted at low pressure and also at high pressure to the power producing mechanism when the conditions are such that it is desirable to use always the steam of low pressure in preference to the steam of high pressure.

By means of my invention the engine may operate continuously and use all of the steam from the low pressure source, which supply may be variable in extent, making up any deficiency in steam with that which is taken from the source at high pressure.

My invention, broadly, has as object the selection of the source of steam supply, by means of the fluctuation of pressure in one of the sources of steam supply. I therefore do not wish to be limited to the use of the lower source of pressure as means of controlling the apparatus selecting automatically the source of operating fluid, the object of my invention being to "use the Variations of pressure of one of the sources of steam supply to operate a controlling device acting upon valves controlling the admission of steam to the engine from one or the other source or from both simultaneously.

In the preferred embodiment of my in vention a piston or diaphragm mechanism is supplied with steam from the low pres sure source, said piston or diaphragm mechanism operating to close a valve in the low pressure source and open a valve in the high pressure source when the pressure of the low pressure source falls below a definite predetermined value.

In practicing my invention I employ two valves at each source of steam supply, therefore four valves, as the power produc ing machine receives steam from two difierent sources of steam supply at differentpressures.

The two valves controlled by the speed overnor open together and close together. hen the speed increases, they have a ten(l ency to close, and when the speed diminishes, they have a tendency to open.

The two pressure controlled valves ope ateas follows: \Vhen the low pressure steam supply diminishes, means are provided to close the low pressure source and to open the high pressure source. In other words, the speed controlled valves open and close together, and the pressure controlled valves are acted upon by means governed by the low pressure steam supply in such a way that when one closesthe other opens. I do not wish to be limited to a piston or diaphragm mechanism, however, as a means of operating the pressure controlled valves. Any suitable device operated by the steam pressure of one of the steam sources and controlling the pressure controlled valves is within the scope of my invention.

The select-ion of the lower pressure source of fluid to operate the pressure controlled valves is arbitrary, although in practice the lower source of pressure is generally to be expected the more probable to vary and to be employed as the regulating agency.

I will explain my invention more fully by reference to the accompanying drawing, showing one application and embodiment of the invention.

In this drawing the power producing engine, preferably the turbine, is represented by the rectangle T A is a speed governor directly geared to the turbine shaft by bevel gears B C is a bell crank lever, by means of which the motion of the governor is transmitted to connecting rod D, which rod is connected to the valve E in the high pressure supply pipe P and also connected by means of the right and left hand thread nut F to the rod Q The gov- 011101" motion is further transmitted to the valve G, located in the low pressure supply pipe O These valves E and G are acted on in a like manner by the governor (2'. 0., an increase in speed causes the governor to exert a closing action on both the high and loW pressure valves). The speed of the turbine T is controlled e11- tirely by the speed governor, regardless of whether the turbine is being driven by the steam taken from the source at high pressure or the source at low pressure or from both sources simultaneously. The selective apparatus which determines whether the turbine shall run on high or low pressure steam or simultaneously on both sources of steam consists of the valve H located in the high pressure pipe P and the valve J located in the low pressure pipe O These valves are connected together by the connecting rod 1 and are further connected by the rod K to the piston mechanism L, of which mechanism M is the piston.

N is a duct which connects the piston L to the low pressure supply pipe O R is a pipe connecting from the other side of the piston H to atmosphere or some other source of constant fluid pressure. By means of this mechanism it will be seen that if the pressure in the pipe O is less than the pressure supplied from pipe 11 the piston M will be displaced, exerting a closing action on valve J and an opening action 011 valve H. Thus when the pressure in pipe O is not a predetermined value, the valve J interposes a resistance to the fluid flow in pipe O checking its passage to the turbine and permitting the passage of fluid from pipe P to the turbine. Im'ersely, when the pressure in pipe exceeds the pressure in pipe R the piston M is displaced in a reverse direction, thus exerting an opening action on valve J and a closing action on valve H, in consequence of which the passage of low pressure steam through pipe 0 to the turbine is facilitated and the passage of high pressure steam from pipe P to the turbine is retarded so that the turbine will consume more low pressure steam and less high pressure steam in consequence of an increase of pressure in pipe O I do not wish to be limited in the scope of this invention by the means employed within the turbine to use the steam from different sources. There are various methods by which this can be done, which methods are well known to those skilled in the art. For example, steam from the two different sources of pressure may be united at one pressure within the turbine casing and do their useful work in expanding from this pressure down to the pressure of the condenser, or the steam from the high pressure source may be admitted through special nozzles and expanded down to the pressure of the steam from the low pressure source, this expansion being used to drive the turbine.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

In a power producing engine operated by steam from sources at different pressures, valves located in the high pressure steam channel and in the lower pressure steam channel and piston mechanism operated by steam supplied by the lower pressure source of steam and having a closing action on the lower pressure valve when the lower pres sure steam source has a tendency to diminish and simultaneously an opening action on the high pressure valve and two valves located in the high and in the low pressure channel opening and closing together under the control of a speed gov ernor.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this fifth day of February A. 13., 1909.

CHARLES H. SMOOT.

Witnesses:

F. V. YATES, C. S. Bnooxs.

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